700,000 new poor persons

Al Ghad’s Mahmoud Khatatbeh said that it is a good step by the government to reopen all economic sectors as of Wednesday, yet the government has to have a roadmap to counter the possibility of losing some 140,000 jobs in various sectors in the Kingdom within the next four months.

The International Labour Organisation expected the world to lose some 10.5 per cent of organised jobs, which means that the Jordanian economy, just as every other economy in the world, will face a new challenge that everybody hopes not to have big impact, said the writer.

The government, which succeeded in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, is now required to be fully prepared to deal with the status of the national economy and the living conditions of citizens, added the columnist. Nobody can deny that the coming is bad, especially that civil society organisations speak about 140,000 who will lose their jobs in the Kingdom, and if each one of those is head of a five-member family, there will be a total of 700,000 people who will join poverty in Jordan.

As for the unorganised jobs, there are some 1.25 million employees in these jobs, including 900,000 whose salaries will be negatively affected, said the columnist. All these factors require the government to enhance the social security network and direct it to low-income and most vulnerable people, said the writer, adding that the government is also asked to expand the health insurance umbrella, especially that the monthly and daily incomes of a lot of citizens will not be sufficient for their basic needs.