AMMAN — The fourth review of the
performance of the Jordanian economy with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been completed successfully, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ
said, according to Al-Mamlaka TV.
اضافة اعلان
Meanwhile, the IMF said it envisaged GDP growth at
2.4 percent this year.
Ississ told a press conference Monday that the
fiscal policy has maintained financial stability, and the program implemented
under IMF supervision is moving at a steady pace and in the right direction.
“Jordan has an economic reform program without any
external impositions,” he told reporters.
Central Bank Governor
Adel Al-Sharkas explained that
the fourth review comes at an important and sensitive juncture.
IMF said that the financial reform system in Jordan
is proceeding correctly, adding that Jordan has “passed the economic challenges
related to the pandemic”.
The fund explained that the measures undertaken by
Jordan reduced the repercussions of economic crisis under COVID-19. It
reaffirmed the adequacy of foreign reserves and the banking system resistance
to crises.
IMF added that “the
long-term contracts to import gas, which Jordan has concluded, have eased the
brunt of rising energy prices”.
In a related development, IMF said it envisaged real
GDP growth in Jordan at 2.4 percent this year and that the upward trend will
continue to exceed 3 percent in the medium term, Al-Mamlaka TV said in another
report.
But the fund added that unemployment rates remain
significantly high, especially among the youth.
In the near term,
IMF said Jordan’s fiscal and monetary policies must continue to support
recovery and maintain economic stability in a challenging environment,
characterized by increasingly narrow and tight global financial conditions and
rising commodity prices.
Jordan’s actions have mitigated the impact of the
coronavirus pandemic on the
economy, which is currently in a state of recovery,
aided by the reopening of economic sectors, and supported by targeted fiscal
and monetary measures, IMF said.
The IMF considered that the deficit will “narrow”
from 8.8 percent of GDP in 2021 to 6.5 percent of GDP in 2022, taking into
account the impact of higher fuel prices and oil derivatives. But it added that
the gap was partly filled by a recovery in tourism revenues and exports, which
exceeded expectations.
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