2015 budget deficit up by JD346m as revenues drop

AMMAN – State budget deficit for the fiscal year of 2015 reached JD929 million, or 3.4 per cent of the projected size of the Kingdom's economy, according to numbers released on Monday by the Finance Ministry. 

The deficit was higher by JD346 million than the JD583.5 million registered in 2014, mainly due to around JD350 million drop in foreign grants from JD1.236 billion in 2014 to around JD886.2 million received last year, the ministry's figures indicated.  

In its report, the Finance Ministry said that deficit ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 was 2.3 per cent. 

The deficit before foreign grants would have been JD1.815 billion, 6.7 per cent of the projected GDP in 2015, while in 2014 it would have been JD1.820 billion, or 7.2 per cent of the GDP. 

Public revenues in 2015, including domestic and foreign grants, stood at around JD6.8 billion, compared to JD7.2 billion the year before, a drop of around JD471 million. 

Domestic revenues in 2015 dropped by JD122 million in 2015 to around JD5.909 billion from JD6.031 billion, the figures showed. 

Government spending in 2015 stood at JD7.724 billion, down by JD126.5 million from the year before when expenditure reached JD7.851 billion, the ministry report said.