The Jordanian Minister of Finance, Mohamad Al Ississ, revealed that "government spending in Jordan's draft budget for 2021 amounts to 9.9 billion dinars (14 billion dollars), which paves the way for a recovery in growth to 2.5 percent, after the Coronavirus pandemic caused the worst economic downturn for decades."
Al Ississ explained that "the cabinet approved a budget that would accelerate the reforms supported by the International Monetary Fund to help the country recover in a sustainable manner," stressing that "next year's budget includes major financial reforms, among which is the continuation of a strong campaign to combat tax evasion that has reaped hundreds of millions of Dinars of public finance this year."
He also considered that "despite the unprecedented challenges, the financial balance remains a priority," explaining that "the government will not resort to imposing new taxes, but a commitment to increase public sector wages that have been postponed this year will pay government spending, which salaries and pensions consumes the largest part of it."
In addition, Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year, in an improvement from a previous estimate of 5.5 percent, which is the worst contraction in two decades, knowing that the International Monetary Fund had expected, before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, that Jordan's economy would grow 2 percent.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
