Investor Confidence survey shows positive indicators

AMMAN — The investment environment in Jordan has witnessed positive indicators in the last two months, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported quoting the Jordan Strategy Forum’s (JSF) latest report on Saturday.

There is “plenty of room” to achieve the kind of improvement an investor would like to see, the report said.

The Investor Confidence survey carried out by JSF in September and October showed that the improvement was not enough, stressing that investor confidence is an important factor that the forum closely monitors through a survey conducted every six months.

“When confidence in the economy’s performance is high, and the private sector is oriented towards positive investment, we can expect a real, strong and stable growth,” the report pointed out, noting that when confidence rises, new investors are inclined to join the market and existing investors tend to expand their businesses. 

Also when confidence increases, consumers’ demand for goods and services will increase, the report added.

The report indicated that 30.2 per cent of investors surveyed were willing to expand their businesses next year, while 58.9 per cent said they intend to keep their businesses unchanged, and 5.7 per cent said they will scale down their businesses.

The survey showed that 21.4 per cent of surveyed investors believe their economic volume is better in 2017 than in 2016, while 49.7 per cent of investors said that their businesses in 2017 were worse than in 2016.

It also showed that 35.9 per cent of investors in the sample indicated that their businesses would be better in the next 12 months, while 29.8 per cent expected them to stay the same, compared to 26.4 per cent who expected them to be worse than it is now.