Citizens react in favour of government's comprehensive reform programme — survey

AMMAN — A local study has revealed that 44 per cent of Jordanians believe in the government's capability to implement the economic stimulus plan launched last month.

The public opinion poll, conducted by the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) from October 28 to October 30, surveyed Jordanians across the Kingdom, focusing on the government's plan to improve the national economy and investment climate.

About a third of Jordanians, according to the study, had heard about the stimulus package, while 69 per cent of the respondents had not.

When asked how they knew about the plan, 49 per cent of Jordanians said through TV networks, 30 per cent via social media platforms, 8 per cent through word of mouth and 7 per cent from news websites, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Jordan Television topped local stations, as it was the source of information for 43.4 per cent of respondents, followed by Roya TV at 33.4 per cent.

The poll showed that 51 per cent of surveyed Jordanians think that the government's decision to lower land registration and ownership transfer fees by 50 per cent would stimulate investment, while 59 per cent of the respondents expressed that exempting apartments of less than 150 square metres from fees would improve the housing sector.

The results also indicated that 63 per cent of Jordanians think that providing incentives to institutions and factories that employ Jordanians would help in reducing unemployment, while 61 per cent said that government incentives for successful institutions, factories and sectors would stimulate investment.

38 per cent of Jordanians said that the government would succeed in reviewing the role of independent bodies and assessing their feasibility, Petra added.

Regarding healthcare, 58 per cent said that the government will successfully issue a law that stipulates full health insurance coverage for all Jordanians in 2023, and 53 percent believe that the government will improve services. 

According to the opinion poll, 51 per cent of respondents said that the government will succeed in improving public schools' educational services and 45 per cent noted that the government will succeed in linking wages with performance evaluation of employees, while 42 per cent said that the government will succeed in revising the civil service system to achieve “justice” among all government employees.