The World Bank launched the report of the Jordanian Economy Observatory in the Spring 2020 issue entitled "Confronting the Storm", during a virtual meeting hosted by the Jordanian Strategies Forum in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
The report discusses the latest economic developments and highlights some of the major challenges facing macroeconomic policies in the Kingdom, particularly the economic and social impacts of the emerging Coronavirus pandemic, which severely affected the life and livelihood of the Jordanian citizen.
According to the report, with the slowdown in pre-pandemic Jordan's growth and high unemployment rates among youth and women, this shock is expected to be more severe, as expectations indicate that the pandemic will likely lead to a deep global recession in the long term, partly due to the continuing health risks. According to the report, the Jordanian economy is expected to shrink by 3.5% in 2020, compared to the expected contraction in the MENA region by 4.2%, and by 5.2% for the global economy.
As for Jordan, this negative impact is expected to affect a number of different sectors, particularly trade, remittances, tourism, and the services sector. Given the nature of the Jordanian economy, which is dependent on the services sector, the Kingdom is expected to recover gradually, but not before the pre-pandemic expectations.
Source (Al-Dustour Newspaper-Jordan, Edited)