JSF paper sheds light on state budget

AMMAN — The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) on Saturday issued a policy paper reaffirming the need to achieve sustainable economic growth through the 2021 budget, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The paper demonstrated an increase in the 2020 public budget deficit, which amounted to JD1.658 billion (January-August) in comparison to JD1.044 billion of the same period in 2019. The published paper also showed that the Kingdom’s GDP growth rate in the last five years did not contribute to decreasing unemployment. 

Unemployment rates rose from 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 23.5 per cent in the third quarter, the paper indicated. The paper urged the government to adopt a reversed financial policy by increasing expenditure and to allocate additional resources to support education and health sectors.