Government says it is on path to realising pledges

AMMAN — The total number of pledges the government announced to implement in its priority document for 2019 and 2020, which included 18 national priorities, stood at 187.

Among the 19 pledges the government promised to carry out in the first quarter of 2019, 16 were achieved with a percentage of 84.2 per cent, the Jordan News Agency, reported, citing a Prime Ministry statement.  

The most important pledges the government implemented include endorsing the laws of illicit gain and transparency and anti-corruption and the bylaw of government procurement, as well as raising the financial authority of governorate councils from JD200,000 to JD2 million, and launching the haggak and bekhedmetkom platforms. 

The three remaining pledges include the Zakat Law, the amended Political Parties Law and the decentralisation review.

Work on implementing the priorities of the second quarter of 2019 is scheduled to be detailed in July, the Prime Ministry said.

The government also said it is committed to reducing travel costs of ministers and delegations.

Regarding unemployment and job creation, the statement said that the government has provided 14,277 jobs so far, as part of 30,000 jobs it pledged to create in 2019.

The government had established 24 satellite factories in remote and underprivileged areas, which created 5,866 jobs, including 2,200 for women; four factories have been established since the beginning of 2019, while other eight are expected to be established by the end of the year.

At the economic and investment level, the government said that the budget deficit went down from JD749.9 million in 2017 to JD727.6 million in 2018, adding that capital adequacy until the end of 2018 reached 16.9 per cent.

Licensed banks in the Kingdom contain a total of JD33.9 billion as deposits, 76 per cent of which are in Jordanian dinar, the statement said. 

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) enjoys good levels of foreign currency reserves that can cover the Kingdom’s exports of goods and services for more than 7.6 months, while the international standard stands at three months.

Other positive economic indicators include the increase of national exports by 13.6 per cent, a rise in capitals of registered companies by 34 per cent and a hike in revenues during the first five months of the year by 45 per cent to JD43.8 million.

The government also stressed its commitment to building partnerships with various institutions related to monitoring and evaluating government performance, out of the government’s awareness of the importance of guaranteeing the rights of citizens and civil society institutions to receive information, Petra said. 

The statement, currently available only in Arabic, can be reached through on: http://www.pm.gov.jo/upload/files/Gov_numbers.pdf.