Investor confidence drops in April by 1.75 points

AMMAN — Jordan Investor Confidence Index dropped in April 2016 by 1.75 points to reach 96.12 points compared to 97.87 points in March 2016. 

The Jordan Investor Confidence Index (JICI) is a monthly-issued index, published by Jordan Strategy Forum. 

All Sub-Indices of the JICI witnessed slight declines in April 2016. Firstly, confidence in the monetary system sub-index dropped from 93.79 points in March 2016 to 93.18 points in April 2016; a 0.60 point decrease. The change has come due to a decrease in CBJ’s foreign reserves by JD 176.5 million to reach JD 12,274 million in April 2016, according to a statement of the forum. 

 The sub-index of confidence in the real economy dropped by 0.55 points in April 2016, reaching 103.09 points compared to 103.63 points in March 2016. This sub-index witnessed a decrease in the number of companies registered, in spite of the small increase in the capital of companies registered, which rose to JD11.1 million in April 2016, compared with JD10 million in March 2016.

Moreover, the private sector credit relative to total deposits dropped from 60 per cent in March 2016 to 59 per cent in April, whilst the Manufacturing Quantity Production Index dropped to 156.11 points, compared to 161.8 points in March 2016.  This is in addition to a decline in the construction activity as the number of construction permits and total tax collected on real estate dropped by 15 per cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively.

Finally, the sub-index of confidence in the Amman Stock Exchange market dropped by 0.60 points to settle at 99.85 points, as opposed to 100.45 points in March 2016. 

The drop could be attributed to a decline in the ratio of shares bought by foreign investors to the shares sold by foreign investors from 3.48 in March 2016 to 1.25 in April 2016, the statement said. 

The JICI measures the confidence of investors operating in the Jordanian market through three aspects: Confidence in the Jordanian Dinar and the monetary system, confidence in the real economy and confidence in the Amman Stock Exchange market.

Changes in JICI and its Sub-Indices:
January 2016 to April 2016