Jordan's growth will hit 4.25% as recovery rises

Amman: Jordan's economic growth will accelerate to 4.25 per cent this year from 3.5 per cent last year, the International Monetary Fund forecast.

"Recovery remains on track, on the back of slowly rising domestic activity," the Washington-based lender, which sent a delegation to Jordan last month, said on its website. "Fiscal prudence and credible monetary management, reinforced by strong supervision and regulation of the financial sector, provide a solid platform for a more robust upturn in 2011." Jordan, one of the smallest economies in the Middle East, imports more than 90 per cent of its oil and relies on foreign investment and grants to finance deficits in the budget and the current account.

The economy grew 2.3 per cent in 2009, and growth accelerated to 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2010. Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour, in a Nov-ember 1 interview, forecast an expansion of as much as 5 per cent this year after the government cut taxes for some industries. The IMF forecast that the fiscal deficit will narrow to 5.3 per cent of GDP this year from 5.75 per cent in 2010.