Saudi Arabia to host summit on Jordan economic crisis

Jordan’s budget for this year suffers from a roughly financial deficit of $1.753 billion [Shadi Nsoor/Anadolu Agency ]

Saudi Arabia will host a summit in Makkah on Sunday to discuss ways of easing an ongoing economic crisis in Jordan.

The summit will “discuss ways to support Jordan to overcome the economic crisis the country is going through”, the Saudi Royal Court said in a statement cited by the official SPA news agency on Saturday.

The summit was agreed during phone calls Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz made with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, SPA said.

Jordan has been rocked by protests since the government last month approved a controversial income tax bill.

The protests had forced Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki to resign, with the Jordanian king appointing Education minister Omar al-Razzaz to head up a new government.

Amman recently raised subsidized electricity prices for the fifth time this year, leading to further popular discontent. It also announced increases in subsidized fuel prices before swiftly reversing the move following a popular backlash.

According to official data, Jordan’s budget for this year suffers from a roughly financial deficit of $1.753 billion.

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