Jordan's budget deficit before external grants decreased between January and last May by 14 percent on an annual basis.
The Ministry of Finance revealed that the budget deficit before grants reached 603.6 million dinars ($851 million), compared to 707.8 million dinars ($998 million) during the same period in 2021. According to the ministry's data, the budget recorded a deficit after external grants of 792 million dollars until May from 897.5 million dollars, compared to an annual decline of 11.7 percent.
Grants and foreign aid directed to the Jordanian budget, until the end of May, decreased by 41.1 percent to $59.2 million, compared to $100 million a year ago.
Jordan is among the countries that depend the most on foreign aid because of the weak structural structure of the economy, so tourism, which is a strategic sector, suffers from problems along with industry, agriculture, and others. The Jordanian economy was particularly affected last year by the closures aimed at containing the pandemic, and the unemployment rate reached 24 percent amid the worst contraction in decades.
Source (Al-Arab Newspaper of London, Edited)
