Have GCC countries turned their backs on Jordan?
Despite reform efforts, the Jordanian economy continues to underperform, and foreign assistance to fill in gaps and counter this trend is growing scarce.
For almost a decade now, successive prime ministers have warned Jordanians that their country faced difficult economic conditions and that they should be patient as the government adopted stringent measures — such as lifting subsidies on essential goods, raising utility rates and increasing the cost of public services — in attempts to reform the economy.
Despite more than two decades of submitting to International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictates and numerous economic reform programs, the Jordanian economy continues to underperform, especially in the past five years, forcing the government to rely on local and foreign borrowing and on financial aid packages, primarily from the United States, the Gulf states and European countries. In July 2016, Jordan signed on to a 36-month IMF program providing it access to $700 million in loans.
