Jordan to Push Ahead with IMF-Backed Reforms

Jordan to Push Ahead with IMF-Backed Reforms

Jordan will accelerate the momentum of IMF-backed structural reforms in 2022 to help a nascent recovery gather pace in an economy hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and regional turmoil.

Jordan’s Finance Minister Mohammed al-Ississ told lawmakers ahead of a parliamentary session that passed the $15 billion 2022 budget that the country could ill afford any delay in reforms.

"The process of reform and dealing with the distortions and imbalances is more pressing and necessary than ever," he said in a speech ahead of a vote on the budget.

The International Monetary Fund said in January after the kingdom completed the third review of an ambitious four-year $1.5 billion program that the country's progress in reforms was helping maintain macroeconomic stability while supporting an emerging recovery.

The top official announced that the return to 2 percent growth last year after a steep 1.5 percent contraction in 2020, the worst in decades from the impact of the pandemic, showed "signs of economic recovery.”

Growth is expected to reach 2.7 percent in 2022, signaling an end to the recession and a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Ississ, who was praised by the IMF for the “sound financial reforms” that closed tax loopholes, expanded the tax base, and achieved the