The projected total public debt for 2024 is expected to reach JD33.534 billion, or 88.3 percent of GDP, a decrease from 2023’s 88.7 percent of GDP, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ, said on Wednesday.
Next year’s public debt service will total JD1.980 billion, Al-Ississ said in a meeting with economic journalists and columnists.
The total amount of funding sources for the upcoming year, Al-Ississ added, will reach JD7.499 billion, and will be broken down into JD39 million from external loans and capital projects finance, and JD1.660 billion in loans from international institutions to support the budget. To meet the budget shortfall, the government will issue JD648 million in local bonds denominated in U.S. dollars and JD5,150 million as internal loans to extinguish the outstanding debt, resulting in a net public debt of around 2.069 billion dinars next year. In order to close the budget deficit, the government will therefore have net public debt of around JD2.069 billion in 2024.
According to Al-Ississ,
Eurobonds will mature in 2025, 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030 rather than next year. The government has not yet decided whether it will issue Eurobonds to meet some of its external needs. The worldwide market is being monitored daily, and the decision will be made based on factors that contribute to lowering debt servicing costs.
The draft budget for next year predicts that global GDP will continue to stagnate due to anti-inflationary policies until the US Federal Reserve begins to lower interest rates on the dollar, Al-Ississ explained. The draft budget also anticipates that the regional situation will remain unchanged without further escalation.
The Jordanian economy has been able to withstand regional crises in recent years, including the influx of refugees into the Kingdom and the stoppage of Egyptian gas, which had a significant economic impact, and it is now able to overcome the current crisis, the minister emphasized.
According to the Finance Minister, foreign grants for next year will total JD724 milli
on, including a grant of JD599 million from the United States of America, a Gulf grant of JD46 million, a European Union grant of JD45 million, and a grant of JD33 million dinars from the Mecca Summit and the UAE.
“Public revenues amount to JD10.303 billion, JD724 million of which constitutes external grants,” he said, dispelling the persistent talk that the Kingdom’s budget is dependent upon grants.
“Throughout the next year, the foreign grant to GDP ratio stays below 1.9 percent,” Al-Ississ further explained. “Thanks to the work of the Ministry’s financial departments, these revenues are self-generated.”
The meeting was attended by Minister of Government Communications and government spokesperson, Muhannad Mubaideen, and the directors of financial departments.
The total revenue forecast for all government units next year is JD852 million, while total expenditures are expected to be JD1.662 billion, said Director General of the General Budget Department, Majdi Al-Shuraiqi.
The government units deficit w
ill be at JD810 million, with the shortfall in the budgets of the Jordan Electric Power Company (JEPCO) and the Water Authority accounting for the full government units deficit of JD852 million, Al-Shuraiqi concluded.
Source: Jordan News Agency