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Jordan raises public transport fares by ten percent

February 5, 2018 at 12:49 am

A view of Amman, Jordan, August 2017. [Thomson Reuters Foundation/Nadia Bseiso]

Jordan’s public transport fares will be raised by 10 per cent as of next Wednesday, Jordan’s News Agency (PETRA) reported today quoting the director general of the government-run Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC).

Salah Lawzi said that the measure covers medium and large public buses and all taxis.

He noted that the decision, which came hours following the Jordanian government’s announcement to increase fuel and electricity prices yesterday, was is based on the recent change in fuel prices as well as the increasing inflation rate that has placed additional burdens on operators through hikes in operational costs and a decrease in revenues.

The government raised the prices of the oil products by 2.7 per cent, while increasing electricity fares by 1.2 cents per kilowatt for consumers above 300 KW of usage.

LTRC regularly monitors and regulates the transportation fares to measure the effect of the cumulative rate of fuel prices.

Read: Jordanians protest tax hikes, subsidy reductions

The last increase in all public transport fares took place on 5 January 2016 following an increase in fuel prices at the time. The increase amounted to 10 per cent.

The Jordanian government has been implementing a nation-wide contractionary fiscal policy through increasing taxes, imposing new fees, and cutting subsidies on basic commodities such as bread, of which prices were doubled last week.

The government policy was reported to have aimed to reduce the public deficit, which reached $1.75 billion this year.