| 11 Mar 2010 |
|
'Reforms can cut deficit to safe levels in 5 years'
- Text size
AMMAN -- If the government continues its economic reform programme, the budget deficit can be reduced to safe levels within the coming five years, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Rajai Muasher said Wednesday.
Muasher told The Jordan Times that this year, the government seeks to reduce the deficit in the state budget, which is currently around JD1.4 billion - 8.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) - to JD1.1 billion or 6.8 per cent of GDP.
Muasher noted that the government will then work to reduce the deficit by 1 per cent every year to reach 3 per cent of GDP within five years, saying that the deficit can be controlled by cutting down expenditures and suspending unnecessary projects such as government buildings.
"If the deficit continues to increase, the public debt will automatically increase. Jordan cannot afford the public debt to reach 100 per cent of GDP," he stated, stressing that public debt must remain below 60 per cent of GDP.
Also yesterday, the official warned during a meeting of representatives from civil society organisations that if the public debt continues to rise this will take the Kingdom back to the days when Jordan requested help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in organising financial issues and restructuring public debts, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Describing the budget deficit problem as a "national cause", Muasher said the Kingdom will have to seek help from the IMF if it fails to address its budgetary woes.
The government should be transparent with citizens, political parties and civil society organisations as it tackles the problem, he told NGO leaders.
He indicated that the government will not increase any prices before carefully studying the effects of such decisions on people's living condition, stating there are no plans to liberalise or lift government subsidies on gas cylinders.
However, the official explained that the difficult financial situation facing the government does not mean that the Kingdom's economy is going through a crisis, stressing that economic indicators are positive, according to Petra.
By Omar Obeidat
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Loading ...
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.