Khasawneh says Jordan’s strength lies in its ‘distinctive human wealth'

AMMAN — Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh on Saturday said that Jordan has a scarcity of natural resources but possesses a "distinctive human wealth".

During his participation in the opening session of the national dialogue forum "Tawasol 2024", under the title "Jordan's Resilience: From Stability to Recovery", Khasawneh added that the current growth rates are insufficient to solve the unemployment problem, with the unemployment rate currently around 21.4 per cent, Al Mamlakah TV reported.

He highlighted that part of the unemployment rate in Jordan is due to the culture of leaning towards the public sector, which can no longer generate job opportunities.

The premier pointed out that the economy created more than 46,000 job opportunities during the first half of 2023, sending a message to Jordanian youth: "Do not live in negativity and discouragement, but go towards optimism, initiative, and achievement."

Khasawneh noted that the forum's sessions are productive as they bring together "the finest young people of Jordan", stressing that it is an "extremely" important framework for Jordanian youth to engage in dialogue and interact on various issues that concern their present and future.

The prime minister pointed out that the private sector bore a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of closures, and that Jordanians crafted the economic reform programme to combat tax evasion.

He also called for establishing a state of economic stability and maintaining the currency, noting that the Jordanian dinar is strong and stable due to prudent policies of the Central Bank of Jordan, where the Kingdom has an unprecedented reserve of foreign currencies amounting to JD19 billion.

Khasawneh stressed that Jordan's economic growth targets would have reached 2.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, but the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip resulted in achieving a rate of 2.6 per cent.

He pointed out that the inflation rate in Jordan is 1.6 per cent, exports have increased, and there is a plan to reform the educational system.

The prime minister said that Moody’s agency, for the first time in 21 years, has raised Jordan's credit rating, reflecting confidence in the economy and the trust of investors and traders in Jordanian treasury bonds.

The premier stressed that the relationship between the public and private sectors had reached an "excellent level", noting that the private sector interacted with the government during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and provided ideas to the government.