Banking sector has demonstrated stability against ‘double shock’ of pandemic — stakeholder

AMMAN — The coronavirus pandemic has constituted an “unprecedented double shock” that has affected market agents in terms of both supply and demand worldwide, Adli Qandah, director general of the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ), said on Thursday.

He highlighted that the Kingdom’s response to the crisis has been “rapid and effective”.

The banking sector, he said, is “solid” and has demonstrated its ability to deal with crises, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Regarding financial policy, he said that the Finance Ministry has postponed the deadline for paying taxes, reduced social security contributions and the pay cuts for certain groups of employees and halted staff increases.

The Finance Ministry still has “room to expand” the margin of fiscal space to enable the government to intervene more strongly, he added.

Furthermore, the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has cooperated effectively with the banks and institutions working in the sector, mainly the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation, to provide liquidity and alleviate burdens on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Qandah said, highlighting the CBJ’s JD500-million loan offered to craftspersons, professionals and SMEs through banks.

A total of 600 companies have benefitted from the programme, at amounts reaching around JD80 million, with average loans of JD130,000, he added.