Economy grows at 3.1 per cent last year

AMMAN –– The Kingdom’s economy grew by 3.1 per cent last year at fixed market prices, up from the 2.3 per cent in 2009, official figures showed Sunday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.8 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with 2.9 per cent during the same period of 2009, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS).

Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour commented on the figures by saying that although the achieved growth was less than expected, growth rates for each quarter of last year show that the economy is seeing an uptrend and continues to recover.

“What really matters is that the economy is continuing to revive and is on the right track for full recovery,” he remarked, noting that the real economic growth of 3.1 per cent is higher than population growth rates of 2.3 per cent, which means per capita income is increasing.

The minister told The Jordan Times that the GDP growth in current prices was forecast to grow by 8.4 per cent while the figures showed it grew by 9.6 per cent, which means that there is good demand in the local market.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund said that Jordan’s economy was forecast to grow modestly by 3.4 per cent, expecting economic performance to accelerate further over the medium term as growth revives in key regional trading partners.

But with political and social unrest that has been sweeping the Middle East for the past few months, economists, in previous remarks to The Jordan Times, have voiced concern that such events may slowdown economic growth rates in Jordan and other regional countries.

Abu Hammour agreed that regional unrest will affect economic activity in Jordan, indicating that the government’s previous forecast for 2011 was 5 per cent but due to the unrest in the region it was revised to 3.5 per cent.

The DoS initial report attributed the growth achieved during the fourth quarter of 2010 to expansion in key economic sectors led by the extractive industry sector, which recorded the highest growth rate of 57.1 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2009.

Growth in the agricultural sector was the second highest at 7.4 per cent, followed by wholesale and retail trade, and restaurants and hotels, growing by 6.4 per cent.

According to the figures, finance and insurance services as well as the real estate sector grew by 5.4 per cent.

Public services and the electricity and water sectors recorded a 5.1 per cent growth, while the transport, storage and telecommunications sectors grew by 4.2 per cent during the last quarter of last year compared with the same period of 2009.

Sectors that witnessed regression during the fourth quarter of last year when compared to the same period of 2009, according to the official report, include the construction sector which contracted by 11.9 per cent, while taxes on goods also retreated by 2.6 per cent.

jordantimes