Off putting

The latest edition of the Economist magazine classified Amman as the most expensive city in the Middle  East and the entire African continent.

This is, one hopes, not the kind of “record” that our capital would want to pride itself on.

Residents feel it and visitors who compare often find Amman very expensive.

Besides being painful for the citizens, such “honour” does not help outside investment; and businesspeople would always look for a locale that is not prohibitively expensive to live and do business in.

As it is now, Amman rather drives away prospective businesses.

When Amman is more expensive than Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Cairo, to name but a few expensive cities in the region, something must be wrong.

The reason for such high cost of living and doing business in our capital is not exceptional services and infrastructure; mainly it is the high taxes, the heavy customs duties and the expensive energy prices.

Housing is also expensive in Amman, in relative terms, often beyond the reach of many.

Food items are also very costly because much of the food basket items are imported and subject to heavy duties and sales taxes.

What makes the problem worse is the fact that salaries are mostly low and cannot keep pace with the constantly rising cost of living.

This situation warrants a closer look by officials.

It has to be addressed both to make life easier for the inhabitants and to make Amman more attractive for those wishing to do business here.