Public debt ratio to GDP up to 96.1% in July

AMMAN — The total public debt amounted to JD28.118 billion, constituting 96.1 per cent of the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of July 2018, compared with JD27.269 billion, constituting 95.9 per cent of the GDP in 2017.

The Ministry of Finance said in its monthly report on Wednesday that the net public debt at the end of July showed a rise of JD1.18 million approximately, compared to the end of 2017, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The ministry explained that the increase was driven by loans secured to offset the budget deficit, in addition to the government-guaranteed loans for the National Electricity Power Company (NEPCO) and the Water Authority.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s after-grant budget deficit amounted to JD659.7 million at the end of July compared with JD539.7 million for the same period of 2017, according to data provided by the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry said the rise was driven by the payment of JD155 million in cash subsidy in the first half of the current year after the government lifted subsidies on main items, adding that it was working to bring the deficit down to the target level of JD523 million by the end of year when all foreign grants, especially the US grant, are paid. 

In a related development, the Jordan Investor Confidence Index published by the Jordan Strategy Forum showed a drop at the end of June of this year to reach 74.28 points, compared with 80.42 points for May 2018, dropping by 6.1 points, according to Petra.