Kingdom ranked 113th out of 189 countries in Ease of Doing Business report

AMMAN – Jordan has been ranked 113th out of 189 countries in the World Bank's 2016 Ease of Doing Business report, which was released Wednesday. 

In a factsheet e-mailed to The Jordan Times, the World Bank said the Kingdom's economy had dropped by six places from its ranking last year, when it stood at 107, but the full report for 2015 showed Jordan was at 117th position, which means it moved up four places. 

The Jordan Times contacted the World Bank's regional office in Beirut to seek an explanation for the discrepancy.

An official at the international financial organisation said that countries sometimes challenge the findings of the report by offering new data on their economies, which may prompt the creation of a revised list. 

The ranking team, based in Washington, DC, will provide answers in upcoming days, the official said. 

In its report, the World Bank said that in regard to the "10 pillars", Jordan did not make any improvements and in fact retreated in seven topics, while maintaining its same position in three pillars. 

In the category of "starting a business", the Kingdom's economy moved down from 83 to 88;in "dealing with construction permits", it remained unchanged at 103.

Concerning "getting electricity", the Kingdom regressed from 55 to 56 and in "registering property", it dropped from 96 to 98, while the "getting credit" criterion remained unchanged at 185.

In regards to "protecting minority investors", the Kingdom regressed from 162 to 163, and regarding "paying taxes" from 46 to 52, while "trading across borders" saw a 1-point decrease, from 49 to 50.

As regards "enforcing contracts", Jordan’s rank dropped from 122 to 126 and in relation to "resolving insolvency", it remained at 146. 

Economies are ranked from 1 to 189 on their Ease of Doing Business, with rank 1 being the highest "ease". 

A high Ease of Doing Business ranking means the country's regulatory environment is more conducive to starting and operating a local firm. 

Rankings   are determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores on 10 topics, each consisting of several indicators, and giving equal weight to each topic. The rankings for all economies are benchmarked to June 2015.

The Doing Business 2016 report named Singapore as the best country to do business in. The island state has topped the rankings since 2007.