As Jordan began to relax its coronavirus measures April 27 by lifting the total lockdown, opening up most businesses and allowing citizens to use their private vehicles during the day, the government's focus has shifted to reviving an economy that underwent more than 40 days of shutdown. So successful have been the government's health measures that the kingdom registered zero new cases in the first four days of May. By May 4, its total cases stood at 471 with only nine deaths. 

On May 3, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tareq Hammouri announced that all economic sectors in the kingdom will open as of May 6 and “will be permitted to work at full production capacity provided that the percentage of Jordanian employment in the establishment does not fall below 75%.” Having imposed the toughest lockdown in the region, Jordan is among the first Arab countries to ease restrictions in an attempt to reignite the economy.

But initial indications are troubling. On May 3, Minister of Finance Mohamad al-Ississ revealed, for the first time since the crisis began, the expected impact of COVID-19 on the local economy. At a press briefing at the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, he described the blow to government revenues and gross domestic product (GDP) as “profound.” He added that local revenues had decreased by the end of April by 602 million Jordanian dinars ($849 million) compared with the same period in 2019. 

“After the health-related victory, now is the time to act to balance the economic impact, as we have now entered into an economic war against the virus while we are still fighting the virus itself,” Ississ was quoted as saying by the Jordan Times. He expected a 3.4% GDP retraction for 2020.