AMMAN — The general state budget and the
budget of government units for the fiscal
year 2022, which were approved by the Senate last month, were published in the
Official Gazette on Wednesday, showing total public expenditures amounting to
JD10.6 billion, the total public revenues amounting to JD8.912 billion, and the
expected deficit standing at JD1.7 billion.
اضافة اعلان
Economists interviewed by to
Jordan News criticized this year’s general budget, saying that it is similar to last
year’s, which means it will not help alleviate the declining economic
indicators.
They consider it “even worse than those that
preceded it”, seeing that it cannot contribute to changing the difficult
economic conditions brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently,
by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Economist Mohammad
Al-Bashir described this year’s budget as “rigid” and possibly leading to even
“more deficit and dependence on external grants”. The situation will not be
helped by the fact that there is decline in financial aid provided to the
Kingdom and by the economic crisis caused by the
Russian-Ukrainian conflict, he
added.
Bashir told
Jordan News that the balance of
trade is still skewed, with Jordan importing more than it exports, and this
year’s budget will not help overturn the economic decline or revive the
economy, as hoped.
“What is required of the government at this stage is
to address the tax burden, which may lead to a reduction in the cost of goods
so that they are able to compete, and we can export our products abroad, which
may also contribute to a decrease in
unemployment rates”, he added.
Economist Zayan Zawaneh told
Jordan News that
this year’s budget cannot be expected to contribute to reviving the economy or
to the implementation of much-needed mega-projects.
“What is required is a conscious government that
knows how to manage economic crises with tact and intelligence,” he said.
...the “huge and frightening rise in oil prices is a very big challenge to the budget”
“We are still suffering from the consequences of the
COVID-19 pandemic, nowadays we must brace ourselves to deal with the
consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and oil prices have started to
rise to unexpected levels, so what can the government do now, in the absence of
a clear-cut economic plan or real cooperation between the
public and private sectors,” he asked.
According to Zawaneh, the “huge and frightening rise
in oil prices is a very big challenge to the budget”, and both government and
citizens are facing enormous pressures.
The “solution is to think in a flexible manner to
come up with real and radical solutions that ensure that the economic burden
does not increase”, he said.
Economic expert
Fahmi Al-Katout told
Jordan News that “the current year’s budget brings nothing new, does not differ from the
budgets of previous years, and is not expected to lift the burden on the state,
especially with regard to the increasing deficit, which will lead to a higher
rate of indebtedness”.
Katout said that “the imposition of indirect taxes
that exhausted the industrial and agricultural sector, and the government’s
inability to manage the energy file” created imbalances that the government
does not seem inclined to address, “which will exacerbate the problems,
especially in light of the difficult economic conditions”.
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