Central bank: Foreign investment down by $331m in Jordan

The inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Jordanian market has fallen by 54 per cent during the first quarter of the current financial year 2017-18, the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) revealed yesterday.

Until the end of March, CBJ noted, the net FDI amounted to 436.8 million Jordanian dinars ($615.8 million), compared to 436.8 million Jordanian dinars ($ 615.8 million) during the same period last financial year.

The decline in FDI comes at a time where Jordan is experiencing a notable hike in the prices of basic goods and services as well as an increase in the country’s taxes.

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FDI is an essential component in the balance of payments of a country, in addition to tourism, trade balance and remittances.

Jordan’s FDI reached its highest level in 2008, hitting two billion Jordanian dinars ($2.8 billion). The following year, It declined with the repercussions of the global financial crisis.

Over the course of eight days last May, Jordan witnessed a wave of protests against the government’s proposal to increase income taxes. The protests have led to the resignation of the country’s Prime Minister at the time, Hani Mulki. Following the government’s dissolve, the Jordanian King, Abdullah II, appointed Omar Razzaz, a former World Bank official and education minister, to replace Mulki.