Jordan's Draft 2021 Budget Projects 2.5% Growth

Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year. (AFP)
Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year. (AFP)
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Jordan's Draft 2021 Budget Projects 2.5% Growth

Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year. (AFP)
Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year. (AFP)

Jordan's draft 2021 budget forecasts JOD9.9 billion (USD14 billion) in state expenditure and economic growth of 2.5 percent after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the worst contraction in decades, the finance minister said on Monday.

Mohamad Al Ississ told Reuters the cabinet had approved a budget that would accelerate IMF-backed reforms to help the kingdom restore fiscal prudence for a sustained recovery.

He said the budget would continue major fiscal reforms, including continuing an aggressive tax evasion campaign that has netted this year hundreds of millions of dinars for the country's strained state finances.

"Despite the unprecedented challenges, fiscal stability remains our priority," he said.

Ississ said the government would not resort to new taxes but a commitment to raise public sector pay that was postponed this year would push state spending, the bulk consumed by salaries and pensions.

Jordan's economy is expected to shrink by 3 percent this year, an improvement from an earlier 5.5 percent, the sharpest contraction in two decades. Before the pandemic struck, the IMF had estimated economic growth of 2 percent.

The government has given priority to cushioning the pandemic's impact on the poor by expanding a social safety net that has provided support to at least 2.5 million people, more than a third of the country's citizens, Ississ said.

It will help to ease the pain of the pandemic that has pushed unemployment to a record 23 percent, he added.

Although the kingdom has been more dependent than other regional economies on hard-hit sectors such as tourism and remittances, its commitment to an IMF-backed USD1.3 billion four-year program has helped to maintain external financing from major Western donors.

Jordan's commitment to IMF reforms and investor confidence in the country's improved outlook helped it to maintain stable sovereign ratings at a time when other emerging markets were being downgraded, the minister added.

Last week, Moody's affirmed Jordan's B1 credit rating, citing expenditure control and improved tax compliance. That followed a B+/B rating from Standard and Poor’s in September.



Turkish Inflation Falls to 35.4% in May, Below Forecast 

People on a ferry cross the Bosphorus backdropped by the Galata Tower during sunset in Istanbul, Türkiye, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
People on a ferry cross the Bosphorus backdropped by the Galata Tower during sunset in Istanbul, Türkiye, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
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Turkish Inflation Falls to 35.4% in May, Below Forecast 

People on a ferry cross the Bosphorus backdropped by the Galata Tower during sunset in Istanbul, Türkiye, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
People on a ferry cross the Bosphorus backdropped by the Galata Tower during sunset in Istanbul, Türkiye, 28 May 2025. (EPA)

Turkish annual inflation dipped to 35.41% in May, official data showed on Tuesday, below a Reuters poll forecast and less than half the level of more than 75% that it reached a year earlier.

Month-on-month, consumer price inflation was 1.53%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, also below forecasts. In April, inflation stood at 3.0% on a monthly basis and 37.86% annually.

In a Reuters poll, the monthly inflation rate was expected to be 2.0% in May, with the annual rate seen at 36.1%.

Annual increases were led by education prices, which were up 71.67% on the year, while housing prices climbed 67.43%. Food and non-alcoholic drinks prices rose 32.87%.

Inflation is seen at around 30% by end-2025, the poll showed, above a central bank forecast of 24%. Economists have revised up year-end inflation forecasts since March despite the central bank's recent tightening steps.

In March, Turkish assets suffered, with the lira touching a record low against the US dollar after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief political rival - was jailed pending trial over graft charges that he denies.

The domestic producer price index rose 2.48% month-on-month in May for an annual rise of 23.13%, the data showed.