AMMAN — Minister of Finance
Mohammad Al-Ississ is slated to deliver the 2023 public budget speech on Monday
before the Lower House of Parliament, against a backdrop of governmental
optimism towards achieving positive outcomes in reducing the Kingdom’s
financial deficit, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
اضافة اعلان
The 2023 budget estimates that the
Kingdom’s expenditures will reach JD11.4 billion and revenues JD9.6 billion, leaving
a JD2.6-billion budget deficit without accounting for foreign aid. The
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.7 percent to JD36.9 billion,
while the inflation rate is expected to reach 3.8 percent.
The government has previously affirmed it
will not impose new taxes or increase old ones in 2023, in accordance with the
success of its anti-tax evasion and avoidance policies and a 6.6-percent
increase in tax collections, in addition to an increase in foreign aid to JD802
million (by 0.8 percent) last year.
Financial opportunities, challengesSome JD355 million have been earmarked for
the Economic Modernization Vision, which aims, through JD41-million worth of
investments, to create one million jobs over the next ten years. Meanwhile, JD40
million have been allocated for the
Public Sector Modernization Roadmap(2022-2033).
Some JD355 million have been earmarked for the Economic Modernization Vision, which aims, through JD41-million worth of investments, to create one million jobs over the next ten years.
Under a constitutional amendment, the 2023
budget became the first to be submitted as one public budget law with two
chapters. One of these chapters is dedicated to the 25 government units, which
have a projected income of JD671 million, down by JD283 million from 2022 after
excluding the Central Bank of Jordan's budget.
Public expenditures are expected to reach
JD1.467 billion, leading to a JD795-million deficit. Of these expenditures, 64
percent consist of wages, salaries, retirement pensions, and compensation, and
16 percent go towards paying interest on loans.
Ongoing financial challenges for Jordan in
2023 include relatively low grants and aid compared to the cost of hosting
refugees, which has placed tremendous pressure on the country's sectors; unemployment;
inflation; and energy price fluctuations that affect productivity and standards
of living.
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