Jordan Agrees $1.3 bln IMF Program

Business

January 31st, 6:04am

Amman - Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US, September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Jordan has agreed a new $1.3 billion program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will receive a first installment of $140 million by the end of March, the state news agency Petra said on Thursday. Jordan will receive nine installments of $140 million to $150 million over the four-year program, Petra said on its Twitter account. It cited Jordan's finance minister, Mohammad Al Ississ, as saying the allocations carry a 3 percent interest rate. In Washington, the IMF said it reached a staff-level agreement for the $1.3 billion program that is subject to IMF management approval and consideration by the IMF Executive Board, which is expected in March. It said the program was aimed at bolstering economic growth and stimulating job creation. In December, Ississ said a new IMF deal to succeed a three-year extended fund facility that ends in March would secure lower servicing costs for the $42 billion in public debt that the country holds, which has spiraled in the last decade as a result of the spillover of regional conflicts on its economy. Petra on Thursday said the IMF forecast Jordanian economic growth of 2.1% in 2020. The agency cited the IMF as saying there would be no tax hikes or increase in water prices under the new program while electricity prices would be reduced for the business sector to increase competitiveness. The IMF statement issued in Washington said Jordan's structural reform agenda was "designed to improve the investment climate and reduce costs to businesses, which will make it easier to create jobs while also protecting Jordan’s poor and most vulnerable."

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2108041/jordan-agrees-13-bln-imf-program