Positive estimates have prevailed over the International Monetary Fund's assessments of Jordan's management of the reform file. According to the Fund, Jordan has made strong progress in major economic reforms to stimulate growth despite the rise in fuel and grain prices resulting from the Ukraine war.
The Fund's Executive Board will meet at the end of June to consider the fourth review of a $1.3 billion loan program for Jordan. The program began in March 2020 and has been expanded several times by at least $1 billion to help the Jordanian economy recover from the pandemic and maintain its macroeconomic stability.
The IMF mission, which reached an expert-level agreement on the fourth review of the program, recommended that Jordan receive an additional tranche of $165 million. It is likely that the Executive Board of the IMF will approve this recommendation, bringing the volume of funding disbursed this year to $550 million.
The IMF expects Jordan to meet the target level of the primary deficit in this year's budget as a percentage of GDP, which is 3.4 percent. While the Fund slightly lowered its forecast for Jordan's economic growth this year to 2.4 percent from 2.7 percent. Higher growth is seen as key to alleviating the country's high unemployment, which is around 23 percent.
Source (Al-Arab Newspaper of London, Edited)
