AMMAN — More than 94 percent of
manufacturing companies have experienced a decline in liquidity and more than
64 percent of these companies had to defer payment of financial obligations to
suppliers, owners, and tax authorities, according to a follow-up survey of
Jordanian companies conducted by the
World Bank Group in December 2021,
Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
اضافة اعلان
The study said that the
coronavirus pandemic caused
a “major liquidity shock” to manufacturing companies in Jordan, according to a
survey in which about half of the companies polled indicated that they had to
“reduce the total number of permanent workers they have.”
The World Bank document is part of a study to
approve an $85 million loan to Jordan in support of the government’s industrial
development fund, which would benefit at least 500 companies in developing
their industries and promoting their products.
The proposed funds
are intended to raise the level of
industry and promote the development of
exports by providing grants to about 500 companies throughout all of Jordan’s
governorates which have been exposed to high commercial costs and affected by
the pandemic. These grants will cover about 50 to 70 percent of total
implementation costs, with a ceiling of up to $100,000 dollars per company.
Among the goals of the proposed funding are
increased exports and revenues, access to new export markets, increased new
exportable products, increased number of male and female employees, increased
levels of productivity, and reduced carbon emissions.
The study found that total working hours per week
during the pandemic were reduced by more than 27 percent of Jordan’s
manufacturing companies, while more than 47 percent of the companies surveyed
indicated that they had to reduce their total number of permanent workers since
December 2019.
The study stated that as of last year, the
Jordanian economy had overcome the shock of the pandemic better than many other countries.
However, it also said that job creation has not yet
been activated, adding that Jordan’s real GDP recorded a strong recovery in the
second quarter of 2021 (3.2 percent on an annual basis).
According to the World Bank, the pandemic shock has
affected the private sector, including the industrial sector, which is a major
exporter of Jordanian goods, noting that the most important export destinations
for Jordanian goods are the US (mostly clothing), India (mostly chemicals) and
the Gulf Cooperation Council States (chemicals and agriculture). About 60
percent of Jordanian exports are chemicals and textiles.
The document also stated that Jordan’s manufacturing sector
will suffer the effects of climate change in the coming decades, as Jordan is
facing significant
climate risks including increases in temperature, reduced
rainfall, increased droughts, and increased water evaporation.
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