IMF mission due in Jordan for second assessment of adjustment programme

AMMAN — Jordan is expected to receive $70 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the completion of a mission scheduled to start on March 5, Minister of Finance Omar Malhas announced on Monday.

"An IMF mission will arrive in Jordan on March 5th to assess economic reforms and conduct interviews with Jordanian officials and members of the Lower House's financial and economic committees," Malhas told The Jordan Times.

"We expect to get around $70 million after the mission completes its task," announced Malhas

He added that the amount will be deposited at the Central Bank of Jordan.

This amount is part of a $700-million loan, under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme supervised by the IMF.

A delegation from the fund conducted the first review of Jordan's economy in November 2016, after the EFF programme was approved three months earlier.

The programme was launched in July 2016 after Jordan signed a letter of intent with the IMF and is expected to last for 36 months.

The government had then announced a set of immediate fiscal measures to raise revenues and cut spending in line with the IMF deal, starting January 2017. 

Under the new deal, the government and the IMF agreed on six conditions that aim at reducing public debt to safe levels and stimulating the economy. 

The organisation requested that the government keep the debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 2016 at its level the year before, when it stood at JD24.9 billion, or 93 per cent of GDP. 

In August 2015, Jordan completed a three-year Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF, involving a nearly $2 billion loan.