Economy is not as bad as some think — PM

AMMAN — The national economy is not as bad as some think; and it is still within acceptable levels "under which we can overcome economic obstacles hindering the Kingdom's growth", Prime Minister Hani Mulki said on Tuesday.

Delivering a lecture at the Royal Jordanian National Defence College on the administration of the Jordanian state, Mulki stressed that such an economic situation requires all to work hard to overcome challenges that affected the economy's structure and resulted in large debts and a wide budget deficit.

He noted that the government has an economic reform programme that focuses on reducing debt levels to around 93.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the year, to reach 77 per cent in 2021, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The programme also aims at narrowing the budget deficit to reasonable levels that do not affect economic growth rates, Mulki added.

The government was very keen on not incuring additional costs under this programme, the prime minister said, noting that the government has declined to raise the prices of 91 items.

The premier said the government also decided to peg electricity prices to global oil prices at a balance point of $55 per oil barrel, which represents the real cost of electricity, starting from January 1, 2017, highlighting that the government rejected a suggestion to set the price at $43 per oil barrel. 

This means that electricity prices will not increase until the oil barrel price hits the $55 mark, starting 2017, he said, noting that oil prices have been on a downtrend.