AMMAN — Finance Minister
Mohamad Al-Ississ
said on Monday that the general budget for 2022 cannot be described as
traditional, or similar to “previous ones”.
اضافة اعلان
During the government’s response to deputies’
remarks, he said that the budget seeks to raise the standard of living of
citizens, create jobs, and provide social protection while maintaining
financial stability.
“It is not possible to describe raising capital
spending by 43.6 percent, for the first time in years, as traditional,” he
said.
Ississ stressed that the government is aware of the
economic pain and financial difficulties experienced by Jordanians, and that
the feeling of frustration felt by ambitious youth looking for work is a real
danger. He noted that the decrease in the purchasing power in light of the rise
in living expenses is also real as well.
“The government believes that the people’s ambition
for a better standard of living and a brighter future for their children is
legitimate,” he said.
Ississ said that the
government has begun reviewing
agreements related to energy projects, in view of the need to enhance the
efficiency and effectiveness of the energy sector.
“The terms of the contracts will be negotiated with
the owners of these projects, especially the price at which electricity is
sold, to reduce the financial burden on the national electricity company and
thus reduce the price of selling electricity for all sectors,” Ississ added.
The minister said that the government will improve
water supply through major projects, to reduce water losses, and will carry
out a comprehensive study of groundwater sources, adding that the government is
preparing to launch a tender for the national water carrier project.
Ississ said that
economic policy in the next stage
will mainly focus on pursuing structural reform to maintain fiscal and
monetary stability, enhance a competitive business environment, simplify and
automate procedures and reduce the costs of doing business and production
inputs, including energy, water and transport, with emphasis on transition to a
tech based economy and a Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He said the priorities also include increasing and
diversifying Jordanian exports, targeting new markets through promotion
programs, enhancing competitive advantage besides measures to remove labor
market distortions and increase the chances to secure financing at “acceptable”
cost.
The government, he pointed out, has secured
financing alternatives at a lower cost and replaced commercial loans with soft
loans, as it committed not to impose new taxes or raise fees, while stepping up
tax collection and evasion measures and standardizing the customs tariff with a
5 percent or zero customs duty on 93 percent of imports.
He also cited employment measures including the allocation
of JD80 million for the National Employment Program, earmarking an additional
JD50 million to prop up the tourism sector this year, JD20 million for the
Estidama (sustainability) program for jobs, JD27 million for reducing the
electricity tariff for small and medium sized industries, JD30 million for
the industry support program, financing the agriculture strategy recently
approved by the government and raising financial allocations for the
agricultural sector by 17 percent.
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