Central Bank raises overnight interest rate

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Thursday decided to increase the interest rates on its overnight dinar deposit by 25 basis points, effective on Tuesday, June 19, a CBJ statement said.

The CBJ, in the statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, decided to maintain the interest rate of the soft financing programme presented by CBJ to a set of productive economic sectors unchanged at 1.75 per cent for projects inside the capital and at 1 per cent for schemes in other governorates.

The decision was made in response to economic and monetary developments at the local, regional and international levels, and aims at enhancing the monetary and fiscal stability in the Kingdom, in addition to increasing the effectiveness of dinar tools compared to other currencies.

The bank said that it would continue close follow-ups on local and international economic developments and take proper procedures that guarantee enhanced monetary and financial stability in the Kingdom.

The rise in interest rates came one day after the US Federal Reserve made a similar decision by a quarter percentage point on overnight lending.