Jordan economic rating shows upswing, but problems remain
Jordanians in the private sector are praising their government's ambitious economic strategies, but still see systemic inefficiencies as a barrier to making them a reality.
Jordan’s Finance Minister Mohamad Al Ississ said S&P Global’s decision to keep the kingdom’s sovereign credit rating at B+/B last week was a sign of confidence in its implementation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) reforms.
"This is ... a collective validation across rating agencies in recent months in their confidence in Jordan's monetary and fiscal policy," Ississ told Reuters, at a time when other emerging markets were being downgraded.
The three-phase Economic Modernization Vision ambitiously claims it will increase average real income per capita by 3% annually, create one million jobs, and more than double the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) with an injection of $57.83 billion over 10 years.
Laith Alajlouni, a Jordanian political economist and researcher, said Jordan can compete globally in a variety of promising sectors, including tourism, which took in about $2.87 billion in the first seven months of last year.
