Foreign grants down 93.2% in Q1 2025; $2.1b in new pledges secured

AMMAN — Foreign grants to Jordan plummeted to JD3.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, a sharp decline from JD49.6 million during the same period last year, marking  a drop of JD46.2 million, or 93.2 per cent, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Despite this downturn, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation secured over $2.1 billion in new funding commitments in April to finance major national projects, Al Mamlaka TV reported.

A government performance report for April revealed that the Planning Ministry had signed agreements and received pledges from key development partners, including the World Bank, the German Development Bank (KfW), the Dutch Embassy, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

On the domestic front, government revenues increased by JD150 million in the first quarter of 2025, reaching JD2.16 billion compared to JD2.01 billion in the same period last year.

Tax revenues totalled JD1.582 billion, comprising JD1.076 billion from general sales tax on goods and services, JD419 million from income and profit taxes, JD24 million from real estate sales tax, and JD63 million from taxes on international trade and transactions.

 Non-tax revenues for the same period amounted to JD 578 million, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s gross public debt, including liabilities held by the Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF), reached 118.4 per cent of GDP by the end of the first quarter. Excluding SSIF-held debt, the figure drops to 91.5 per cent, declining further to 90.9 per cent when a Central Bank of Jordan deposit allocated for repaying Eurobonds due in June is subtracted.