S&P maintains Jordan’s long-term sovereign credit rating

S&P maintains Jordan’s long-term sovereign credit rating

International credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has maintained the Kingdom's long-term sovereign credit rating at B+/Stable/B.

S&P's decision follows Jordan's adoption of several reforms related to stimulating investments and competitiveness, expanding the tax base within the economic reform programme, and the international support that the Kingdom receives in various fields, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The agency referred to realising positive results by the general finance of the Kingdom over the last two years that exceeded targeted expectations in the General Budget Law as a result of structural reforms implemented by the governments, such as expanding the tax base, bridging gaps and improving tax compliance and customs reforms.

These procedures led to reducing the deficit of the central government by 7 per cent when compared to the 2020 GDP to reach 5.4 per cent in 2021, S&P added.

The agency expected the average financial deficit of the central government to reach 4.6 per cent over the period spanning between 2022 and 2025 and that the net government debt to start decreasing until reaching 79 per cent of the GDP by 2025.

Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ told Petra that maintaining the rating for Jordan in light of the economic challenges facing the world