Balance of gov’t debt stood at JD30.08b as of October 2022 — Finance Ministry

AMMAN — The balance of government debt as of the end of October 2022, after excluding the debts of the Social Security Investment Fund, amounted to JD30.08 billion, or 88.1 per cent of the estimated GDP for October 2022, compared with JD28.7 billion at the end of 2021, or 88.6 per cent of GDP, the Finance Ministry announced on Thursday.

According to the ministry's monthly financial bulletin, domestic revenues during the first 10 months of 2022 amounted to JD6.6 billion, up by JD529 million compared with the same period of the year before, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to the bulletin, this increase is attributed to a rise in tax revenue by some JD358.7 million compared with the same period in 2021 and a rise in non-tax revenue by some JD170.9 million compared with the same period the year before.

The bulletin added that domestic revenue coverage for current expenditure stood at 90.1 per cent, compared with 85 per cent during the corresponding period in 2021, which is a "good indicator for the performance of the financial policy".

Higher tax revenues were attributable to higher general tax on goods and services by approximately JD107.3 million reaching JD3.4 billion during the first 10 months of 2022, and higher income and profit tax collections by JD308.3 million to some JD1.4 billion during the first 10 months of 2022, achieving 107.7 per cent compared with what was estimated in the 2022General Budget Law.

This rise is due to the application of international practices in tax scrutiny and inspection and the expansion of the tax base.

In terms of public expenditure, it increased by JD580.7 million during the January-October period of 2022 compared with the same period of 2021, reaching some JD8.5 billion. 

The increase is mainly attributed to higher expenditure on social protection by some JD119.4 million compared with the same period of 2021, and the increase in the volume of capital expenditure by some JD401.3 million.