Jordan Loses 60% of Tourism Revenues, Debt Increases 2%

Jordan Loses 60% of Tourism Revenues, Debt Increases 2%

Image used for illustrative purpose. Customers (R) deposit Jordanian dinars at the Jordan Islamic Bank in Amman. REUTERS/Majed Jaber

The Central Bank of Jordan said Wednesday that tourism revenues dropped by 59.6 percent in the first five months of 2021 to 316.7 million dinars ($446.6 million) compared to 784 million dinars in the same period of last year.

The tourism and travel sector was severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, due to the lockdowns and restrictions imposed on travelers.

Jordan's debt increased in the first five months of 2021 by 2 percent to 27.03 billion dinars ($38.1 billion) compared to 26.49 billion dinars at the end of last year.

The data published on the website of Jordan's Ministry of Finance showed that the domestic debt totaled 13.11 billion dinars in May while foreign debt reached 13.9 billion dinars, which amounts to 85.9 percent of the Kingdom's GDP.

Direct Foreign Investment has also suffered in Q1 of this year after a drop of 70.6 percent on an annual basis. Net investment reached 61.3 million dinars ($86.4 million), Central Bank of Jordan data showed.

The net investment in Jordan had reached 209 million dinars in Q1 of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic and the political tension in the region