The World Bank expected that the public debt in Jordan will reach more than 107% of the estimated gross domestic product for the current year, due to the effects of the Corona pandemic crisis, with the possibility that the debt growth as a percentage of the GDP will continue to reach 108.5% during the next year.
According to the World Bank, the Corona crisis poses significant negative risks to the economic recovery in Jordan. In addition to the increasing regional uncertainty, which poses an additional challenge, indicating that, given the high levels of debt in Jordan, financial responses are constrained, due to the limited financial space.
The World Bank considers that the new reform program concluded with the International Monetary Fund is beneficial for macroeconomic stability in Jordan in the medium term, especially after the Fund expected that the Jordanian economy will contract by up to 3.5% during the current year, with the economy resuming its growth next year by 2 %.
On the other hand, the World Bank expected that the inflation rate will decrease to 1% during the current year, and that the rise will return to 2% next year. Despite inflation recording a level less than 1% last year, it is expected that the current account of the balance of payments, which represents foreign economic transactions will show a deficit of 3.9% of the expected GDP for the current year.
The report expected that the decline will affect foreign direct investment during the current year, as it will decrease to 1% of the estimated GDP of the current year, compared to more than 2% of it during the past year.
Source (Al-Dustour Newspaper-Jordan, Edited)
