July 1, 2024
PRESS OFFICER: Angham Al Shami
Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org
Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the first review of Jordan’s program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The completion of the review makes another SDR 97.784 million (about US$130 million) available to Jordan, out of the previously approved program size of SDR 926.370 million (about US$1.2 billion and equivalent to 270 percent of Jordan’s quota) (see Press Release). The Executive Board’s decision on the first review was taken without a meeting.[1]
Jordan’s economy continues to show resilience, including in the face of the challenges posed by the Israel–Gaza conflict and the disruptions to trade in the Red Sea. This reflects the strong progress that Jordan has made in recent years thanks to the steadfast implementation of sound macro-economic policies and structural reforms that have strengthened the country’s resilience and enabled it to weather the impact of successive external shocks. The economy continues to grow, with growth projected to moderate to 2.4 percent in 2024, after having reached 2.6 percent in 2023. Growth is expected to pick up pace in 2025, contingent upon the conflict ending and its impact fading. Inflation is low and reserve and reserve buffers are strong.
Despite this strong performance, challenges remain. Unemployment remains high. Importantly, the unsettled regional situation weighs on Jordan’s near-term outlook. Strong international support remains needed to support the authorities’ policy efforts and to help shoulder the cost of hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.
The authorities remain firmly committed to sound macro-economic policies and advancing structural reforms, to maintain macro stability, further strengthen economic resilience, and foster stronger, job-rich growth and improved living standards for all Jordanians. Fiscal policy remains focused on continuing to reduce public debt through a gradual fiscal consolidation, while expanding targeted support to vulnerable households and creating more room for public investment. Monetary policy remains focused on maintaining monetary and financial stability and safeguarding the exchange rate peg. The adverse impact of the conflict on growth and investment underscores the need to continue with, and to accelerate, structural reforms, to improve the viability of public utilities and to create a more dynamic private sector that can create more jobs and achieve the goals of the authorities’ Economic Modernization Vision.
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Jordan: Selected Economic Indicators, 2022-25 |
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2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
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Prel. |
Proj. |
Proj. |
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Output and Prices |
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Real GDP growth |
2.4 |
2.6 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
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Nominal GDP (US$ billions) |
48.7 |
50.9 |
53.3 |
56.1 |
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Inflation 1/ |
4.2 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
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Government Finances (in percent of GDP) |
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Central government fiscal operations |
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Revenue and grants 2/ |
25.8 |
25.3 |
26.0 |
26.3 |
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Of which: grants |
2.3 |
2.0 |
1.9 |
1.5 |
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Expenditures 2/ |
31.6 |
30.5 |
31.5 |
31.8 |
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Primary government balance (exc. grants, NEPCO and WAJ) |
-3.6 |
-2.7 |
-2.1 |
-1.6 |
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Overall central government balance |
-5.8 |
-5.2 |
-5.6 |
-5.5 |
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Combined public sector balance 3/ |
-4.8 |
-4.5 |
-4.0 |
-3.1 |
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Government gross debt 4/ |
111.3 |
114.1 |
113.7 |
114.3 |
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Government gross debt, net of SSC holdings of govt. debt 4/ |
88.8 |
89.5 |
89.2 |
88.3 |
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Money and Credit |
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Broad money (percent change) |
5.5 |
2.3 |
4.8 |
5.3 |
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Credit to the private sector (percent change) |
8.0 |
1.7 |
4.1 |
6.0 |
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Balance of payments |
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Current account (in percent of GDP) |
-7.8 |
-3.5 |
-5.0 |
-4.0 |
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FDI (in percent of GDP) |
2.6 |
1.5 |
1.4 |
1.8 |
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Gross reserves (in months of imports) |
6.8 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.1 |
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In percent of Reserve Adequacy Metric |
103 |
104 |
102 |
99 |
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Sources: Jordanian authorities; and Fund staff estimates and projections. |
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1/ Consumer Price Index (annual average). |
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2/ Includes the programmed amount of fiscal measures that are needed to meet fiscal targets under the EFF arrangement. |
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3/ Sum of the primary central government balance (exc. grants and net transfers to NEPCO-electricity company |
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and WAJ-water company) and the net loss of NEPCO, WAJ and water sector distribution companies. |
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4/ Government's direct and guaranteed debt (including NEPCO and WAJ debt). SSC stands for Social Security Corporation. |
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[1] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.
