Jordan’s Minister of Finance Suleiman Hafez announced that of the total budget figure, JD6.210 billion ($8.740 billion) is allocated for current expenses while the remaining JD1.246 billion ($1.753 billion) is allocated for capital expenses.
Under the envisaged budget, public revenues are expected to reach around JD6.146 billion, of which foreign grants represent JD850 million, the minister said.
Subsequently, the budget deficit is calculated to reach around JD1.310 billion or 5.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The projected deficit figure before calculating the grants, Hafez said, stands at around JD2.160 billion, or 8.9 per cent of the GDP.
Hafez said next year's budget is in conformity with the country's economic and financial reform program and works to control current expenditures, which are around 2.1 per cent lower than the 2012 figure.
A large tranche of the budget is channeled towards development projects as evident from the figure on capital expenditures which posts a growth by 76.6 per cent. These funds will be used to finance vital energy, water, transport and governorate development projects, the minister explained.
Through its estimated revenues and expenditure for 2013-2015, the government continues to adopt policies and measures to control operational expenses, the minister pointed out.
The 2013 deficit figure will go down to JD383 million if the National Electric Power Company's losses are not computed, Hafez said.
The company's losses are estimated to reach JD889 million and this is incurred mainly because the electricity selling rate is lower than the cost rate, the minister explained.
The Cabinet also endorsed the projected budgets of its independent units, standing at around JD1.880 billion, distributed into JD1.137 billion and JD743 million in current and capital expenses respectively.
Revenues from the 63 government units is estimated to reach around JD762 million, of which government support represents around JD264 million and external grants JD79 million, the minister indicated.
In a related development, authorities announced that during the third quarter of 2012, the GDP rose by 2.6 per cent at fixed market prices, Petra said.
The 2012 third quarter GDP value amounted to JD2.798 billion compared with JD2.727 billion by the end of September 2011.
Jordan Times
2 January
