Better economic conditions foreseen — survey

AMMAN — The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) expects next year’s economic conditions to be better than this year’s, in light of the Kingdom’s stability, a recent survey revealed.   

A survey conducted by the JSF in April, found that investors’ outlook for the coming year was positive, pointing out that this year the economic conditions were not as strong as in 2015.

More than half of the respondents, a total of 52.4 per cent, believed so, citing the lack of clear economic policies, increasing taxes and regional repercussions as main reasons for the downward trend, according to a JSF statement. 

The survey covered 490 local and foreign companies, representing different economic sectors in the country, besides members of the Amman Chamber of Industry, the Amman Stock Exchange, the Jordan Businessmen Association, the Jordan Investment Commission and the JSF.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Jordan has hosted more than 650,000 Syrian refugees, who have fled the civil war there, with about 80 per cent living in communities, rather than refugee camps, imposing a heavy burden on the Kingdom’s resources and infrastructure. 

The JSF is a non-profit organisation, which represents a group of Jordanian private sector companies.