Lower House, gov’t meeting touches on consolidation, incentives

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Sunday urged the government to take economic decisions benefitting lower-income citizens.

The speaker’s remarks came during a meeting of the Parliamentary Financial Committee of the Lower House, with the attendance of Prime Minister Omar Razzaz and a number of ministers and deputies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A series of meetings with the government were held ahead of sending the draft state budget law for 2020 and budgets of independent public entities to the Lower House, Tarawneh said, highlighting the two sides' agreement on different issues.   

Tarawneh reiterated the House's rejection of wage differentials in the public sector, calling on the government to increase salaries and incentives.

To cut spending, the deputies have urged the government to merge the independent commissions, notably energy commissions, as well as reconsider energy agreements within a set timeframe, he said.

Tarawneh also highlighted the importance of the government's supervision of the budgets of public companies, which receive support from the State Treasury but are “not subject to any supervision”.

He also expressed criticism of the government's “lack of commitment” to the figures of the budgets, calling for the application of “true values and applicable figures”.

Talks also covered public-private sector partnerships, with calls to give special attention to this issue.  

In addition, the Lower House speaker urged the government to cut food sales tax to alleviate citizens' burdens, highlighting that the government has shown a “real interest” in reconsidering income tax.   

For his part, Razzaz said that the government has amended the current civil service system, which serves the public sector, adding that it decided to merge the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission with the Energy Commission.

Razzaz also said that the government increased the portion for capital investments in the state budget, affirming that 21 projects will be prepared over the next few months.