Lower House endorses general budget draft law

AMMAN — The Lower House on Monday endorsed a draft law amending the general budget law and draft law for the budgets of government units as referred from the government.

During a Chamber session chaired by Speaker Ahmad Safadi, the House approved the bill upon the recommendation of MP Kheir Abu Seilik, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The mandating reasons included the constitutional amendments to Article 112 of the Constitution, which stipulate referring one general budget draft law that includes the budgets of all governmental units.

The Chamber also referred several amending bills to the relevant committees after expanded discussions regarding the draft laws, including the social security draft law.

Deputy Prime Minister and Local Administration Minister Tawfiq Kreishan said that the Cabinet refers to the Constitution in decisions related to accepting or referring personnel to retirement, and added that the government has the authority to do so without having to state any justifications.

Also speaking during the session, Minister of Labour and Chairman of the Social Security Corporation Yousef Shamali said that the social security draft law included amendments to 17 articles.

The Lower House also referred a bill amending the Property Sale Tax Law to the Economy and Investment Committee. The bill’s mandating reasons focus on stimulating investment in the real estate and housing sector.

The mandating reasons also aim to increase the volume of trade in the real estate market by reducing the property sales tax ratio to 3 per cent, rather than 4 per cent. The bill also enables the Land and Survey Department refund property sales tax for incomplete transactions in order to avoid judicial claims.

Finance Minister Mohamed Al-Ississ said that the government has worked on the draft laws with a focus on reducing the property sales tax by one third to increase the competitiveness of the national economy. Al-Ississ stressed that the government does not seek to increase any tax.