Dubai, UAE — Jordan’s public debt till the end of October 2023 has risen to $46.1 billion, 89.6 percent of the country’s GDP.
The Ministry of Finance said the government had borrowed $3.8 billion in the first ten months of 2023.
In December, the government approved the 2024 budget with a deficit of $1.6 billion, expecting the country’s public debt this year would make up 88.3 percent of the GDP.
Jordan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Ississ, said, “This budget hedges, anticipates options, and deals with reality.”
Ississ announced a new agreement with the IMF on a financial and monetary reform program worth $1.2 billion, extending to 2028.
This program, based on principles like avoiding tax increases and enhancing capital spending, aims to put public debt on a gradual decline, targeting about 79 percent of GDP by 2028, media reports said.
Ississ said the government has effectively the challenges posed by the rise in the public debt interest bill, which resulted from the US Federal Reserve’s decision to continue raising interest rates until July 2023.
This effective management, he said, has enabled Jordan to fulfill its internal and external financial obligations without compromising economic performance.
He expected Jordan’s economy to grow at 2.6 percent in 2024. Inflation in 2024 is anticipated to remain moderate, not exceeding 2.7 percent. The current account deficit is projected to decline to 6.5 percent of GDP, with improvements in the trade balance, increased remittances from Jordanians working abroad, and a rise in foreign investments.