‘Regional crises pressure Jordan's resources’

AMMAN — Jordan faced large pressures in recent years because of the political and security instability in the region, which led to the influx of a large number of Syrian refugees and border closures with Iraq and Syria, Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) Governor Ziad Fariz said Monday.

Speaking at the 15th International Conference on Sustainability and Competitiveness in Business held at Al Zaytoonah University, Fariz added that these crises led to a severe pressure on the limited economic resources of the Kingdom and its infrastructure besides a sharp drop in exports to Syria and Iraq. 

During the conference, organised by the university's faculty of economics and administrative sciences, Fariz mentioned that the current conditions also affected the influx of the foreign direct investment and the tourist activity in the Kingdom.

He continued that these difficulties heightened risks and shipments costs for both exports and imports, which affected the competitiveness of Jordanian products, especially in 2015. 

Fariz said the central bank is adopting a serious initiative, to be launched soon, aiming to support scientific research that could accurately diagnose problems facing Jordanian economy and come up with applicable technical recommendations in the field of interest to the national economy and decision makers. 

"Sustainability and Competitiveness in Business" as the headlines for the conference this year is a clear indication of coping with modern approaches in developing the business sector and realising the importance of increasing the level of competiveness and sustaining it to achieve comprehensive development, the CBJ governor said.