The Open Market Operations Committee at the Central Bank of Jordan, in its sixth meeting this year, decided to reduce the Bank’s key policy rate and the interest rates on other monetary policy instruments by 25 basis points, effective next Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
The decision comes in light of the Committee’s assessment of recent economic, monetary, and financial developments, as well as its monitoring of regional and global interest rate trends. Inflation averaged 1.86 percent during the first eight months of this year, with projections to remain around 2.2 percent for the full year. This supports preserving purchasing power and enhancing the competitiveness of the national economy.
Indicators confirm the strength of monetary stability in the Kingdom, backed by a high level of foreign reserves at the Central Bank, which reached $22.8 billion at the end of August—sufficient to cover the Kingdom’s imports of goods and services for 8.7 months.
Likewise, the banking sector continued to demonstrate strong performance. Customer deposits rose by 5.7 percent year-on-year, reaching JD 48.3 billion by the end of July, while bank credit facilities grew by 2.8 percent year-on-year, totaling JD 35.6 billion.
Financial soundness indicators confirmed the resilience of Jordan’s banking sector. Preliminary data for the first half of this year showed a capital adequacy ratio of 18 percent, among the highest in the region, while the statutory liquidity ratio stood at 142.4 percent, exceeding the Central Bank’s required minimum of 100 percent.
The external sector also showed continued resilience. Tourism revenues grew by 7.5 percent in the first eight months of this year to reach $5.3 billion, compared with the same period last year. Workers’ remittances rose by 1.5 percent in the first seven months of the year to $2.1 billion.
In the same context, total exports recorded growth of 8.3 percent in the first half of the year, amounting to $6.8 billion.
The Central Bank of Jordan reaffirmed its continued commitment to closely monitoring economic, monetary, and financial developments at the domestic and international levels, and to taking all necessary measures to preserve monetary and financial stability in the Kingdom. This ensures maintaining moderate and stable inflation levels, while serving the objectives of sustainable economic growth.
—(Petra)
