IMF, Jordan Reach Agreement on Review of Economic Reform Program

The Jordanian capital, Amman (Reuters)
The Jordanian capital, Amman (Reuters)
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IMF, Jordan Reach Agreement on Review of Economic Reform Program

The Jordanian capital, Amman (Reuters)
The Jordanian capital, Amman (Reuters)

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has reached a staff-level agreement on the fifth review of the Jordanian authorities’ economic reform program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.

“Completing this review will bring total IMF disbursements over 2020-24 to around $2 billion. This is in addition to $469 million disbursed as Jordan’s share under the IMF General SDR allocation,” according to a statement from the IMF

This agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s management and the Executive Board, said the statement.

“The latter reflects the government’s ongoing institutional and legislative efforts to tackle tax evasion and avoidance,” according to the IMF.

The Fund stressed that “sound fiscal and monetary policies have helped maintain macroeconomic stability and access to international markets.”

“The electricity sector faces significant financial challenges against the headwinds from higher international oil and gas prices," it added.



Türkiye's Erdogan Expects More Interest Rate Cuts in 2025

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
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Türkiye's Erdogan Expects More Interest Rate Cuts in 2025

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that there would be more interest rate cuts in 2025 after the central bank cut its key rate by 250 basis points to 47.5% this week.

The Turkish central bank trimmed the one-week repo rate after an 18-month tightening effort that reversed years of unorthodox economic policies and easy money championed by Erdogan, who has since changed tack to back the program.

"Priority in our economy program is to lower the inflation... We will hopefully reduce inflation to the required level by using other tools at our disposal in addition to the monetary policy," Erdogan told members of his AK Party (AKP) in northwestern city of Bursa.

"We will definitely start lowering the interest rates. 2025 will be the landmark year for this," he said.

"Interest rates will decrease so that inflation will decrease. We will take this step. This is now indispensable for us."

Erdogan, who once described interest rates as his "biggest enemy," said last month that inflation would fall alongside the interest rate.

The central bank earlier announced that it had reduced the number of scheduled policy meetings next year to eight from 12 in 2024.

According to a Reuters poll's median, the central bank is expected to ease rates to about 28.5% by the end of 2025, with forecasts ranging between 25% and 33%.