Jordan sees economy down 3% in 2020 due to coronavirus

AMMAN: Jordan’s cash-strapped economy is expected to contract around 3 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus as government revenue plunges due to a tight lockdown that paralyzed businesses, the finance minister said on Sunday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which last March approved a four-year $1.3 billion program with the kingdom, had expected Jordan’s economy to grow around 2.1 percent in 2020 then gradually rise in the next few years to 3.3 percent. “The impact of the big economic blow that hit the local economy has been deep and this will continue,” Mohammad AlIssiss said in a remarks on state television in the first contraction in growth since 1990.

The government has in recent days stepped up moves to return to normality, allowing most businesses to go back to work after a tight nearly twomonth lockdown, as the economic impact deepened with mounting fears that layoffs and bankruptcies could trigger social unrest, officials say in private.

Al Ississ said government revenue plunged by 610 million dinars ($860 million) in the year to April compared to the previous year, pushing a fiscal deficit well beyond a previous forecast of 2.3 percent of gross domestic product. “Our revenues have been dealt a heavy shock and this will lead to the rise in the deficit, but we know we are in an battle for survival to protect our economy,” Al Ississ said. He did not give any estimate of the projected increase. —Reuters