The stock of the Jordanian public debt rose in the first two months of this year by 0.8 percent to 26.7 billion dinars ($ 37.6 billion), compared to 26.49 billion at the end of 2020.
According to statistics issued by the Ministry of Finance, Jordan's internal debt reached 13.6 billion dinars at the end of February, while the external debt reached 13.06 billion. Noting that the Jordanian public debt is equivalent to 85.6 percent of the Kingdom's GDP.
The Ministry of Finance had changed its methodology in calculating the public debt, excluding debts from the Social Security Investment Fund, which amounted to approximately seven billion dinars.
According to the report issued by the Ministry of Finance, the repercussions of Corona have had a profound negative impact on the Jordanian economy, which recorded for the first time in decades a contraction in real gross product estimated at 3 percent for 2020, compared to an average growth of 2.4 percent over the past ten years. The unemployment rate in Jordan also recorded an unprecedented rise in decades due to the pandemic, reaching 22.7 percent last year, amid expectations that it will continue to rise during the current year.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
