AMMAN -- Finance Minister Suleiman Hafez on Monday said people in Jordan spend more than they can afford and consume more than they produce.
"In Jordan, we live beyond our capabilities and we consume more than we produce," he said at a meeting of the executive committee of the Economic Policy Development Forum.
Hafez indicated that under the government's correctional financial measures which has been reviewed by the International Monetary Fund, the growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) should reach 4.5 per cent at the end of the five-year reform programme. The government's top priority is to focus on the energy issue and to take strategic steps to avert emerging crises as a result of fluctuations in international prices. The programme represents the overall framework for reform and work plans on sectoral reform will follow, he said, pointing out that the targeted sectors include water, energy, health, education, public works, employment and combating poverty. It will also work directly to provide subsidies to those who deserve them.
© Jordan Times 2012
