Strikes cost more than reducing fuel prices — ACI member

aci
(File photo: Jordan News)
AMMAN — Member of the Board of Directors of the Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) and economic expert Musa Al-Saket has said that “the cost of the strike is much higher than the cost entailed by the reduction of the price of oil derivatives”, and urged the government to put an end to the strikes as soon as possible, Khaberni reported.اضافة اعلان

“We are facing a worsening crisis today, the economic cost of which is high on all sectors,” he said, stressing that transportation is an important economic component and that, had the government been truly aware of the sector’s impact , it would have ended the strike on the first day.

According to Saket the cost of the transport sector strike on the economy is estimated at JD10 million per day, which means that in the 12 days since the start of the strike the cost had reached JD120 million.

He said that the government and its economic team could have come up with solutions; for example, they could have reduced the amount of expenditures in the 2023 General budget draft law to be able to reduce the price of diesel and kerosene, which, in turn, brings down the cost of transportation and thus increase the competitiveness of national products.

All sectors depend heavily on transportation, especially since “more than 70 percent of Jordanians’ food, and 85 percent of production inputs are imported,” he said, noting that the production lines at several factories have stopped due to the insufficient production inputs, and that there is a backlog of about 20,000 containers in the port of Aqaba.

Saket, said that the government has it in its power to end the transport crisis in light of the recent decline in oil derivatives prices globally.

He also stressed that the government had been warned from the beginning of the crisis about the negative repercussions of a strike, and of the urgent need to work quickly to end the strike.


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