AMMAN – Dr.
Adel Sharkas, Governor of the
Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), announced on Saturday that signs point to the end of the
quantitative tightening cycle.
اضافة اعلان
During the
Jordanian Banking Summit 2024, Dr. Sharkas predicted
a 25 basis point decrease in global interest rates beginning in the second
quarter of this year, Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
He acknowledged that the
local economic file made
significant progress in 2023, despite the precarious global environment and
state of uncertainty that the world is experiencing.
He stated that Jordan's commitment to
economic reform,
together with a stable financial and monetary environment, gave international
institutions confidence in the country. This includes credit rating agencies,
who agreed on Jordan's stable credit outlook in 2023.
Dr. Sharkas stated that the
national economy grew by 2.8
percent in the second quarter of 2023, with an average growth rate of 2.7
percent in the first three quarters of 2023.
He stated that the CBJ's effective monetary policy, as well
as its credibility in maintaining harmony between local and regional interest
rates, contributed to increased confidence in the national economy, monetary
stability, and the strengthening of the dinar. This confidence translated into
a continuous decline in the dollarization rate, which is expected to reach 18
percent by the end of November 2023, compared to rates that exceeded 20 percent
prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic, as well as maintaining record levels of foreign
reserves at the CBJ exceeding 18 billion, enough to cover 9 months of the
kingdom's imports of goods and services. This is in addition to helping to keep
the Kingdom's inflation rate, which reached 2.1 percent in 2023, within
reasonable limits for economic activity and in a way that encourages saving and
investment.
Dr. Sharkas confirmed that 2023 demonstrated the strength
and durability of
Jordan's banking industry, particularly its high levels of
capital, which are among the highest rates in the MENA region. It reached 17.4
percent at the end of the first half of 2023, in addition to the banking
sector's comfortable levels of legal liquidity, which reached approximately
135.4 percent, indicating that despite the challenges that the national economy
faced, non-performing debts decreased to 5.0 percent at the end of the first
half of 2023, which is a relatively low rate and within manageable levels.
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