Jordan committed to submitting investment climate bill: PM

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AMMAN — The government is committed to submitting a bill governing the investment climate to the Lower House in April, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh said on Sunday.

During a cabinet meeting, Khasawneh highlighted the importance of the bill, noting that the draft law is part of efforts to move towards executive phases to overcome a decade of challenges, during which economic growth was no more than 2 per cent.

“We have managed to overcome the pandemic, the premier said, adding that "we are now in the recovery phase despite all challenges facing the supply chains, as well as basic commodities and oil prices rose due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis”.

Despite all these challenges, Jordan has made several achievements and showed good economic indicators, including major credit ratings from international agencies, he said.

He also reviewed the government's previous decisions that enhanced the resilience of the economy, including the long-term gas agreements that have helped the Treasury save about $1.2 billion over the past year and about $350 million during the first four months of 2022.

Thanks to the prudent policies, the foreign currency assets of the Central Bank of Jordan have reached some $17 billion, "an unprecedented figure in the Kingdom's history", he said.

He added that all targets related to public revenue in last year's general budget were met, as 104 per cent of target revenue was achieved, noting that the achieved economic growth signals recovery.