Press Release No. 24/251

IMF Executive Board Completes the First Review Under the Extended Fund Facility with Jordan

July 1, 2024

• The IMF Executive Board completed the first review of Jordan’s program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), providing the country with access of about US$130 million.
• The EFF-supported program is off to a strong start, reflecting the authorities’ strong ownership of the program. All performance criteria and structural benchmarks for the first review were met.
• Despite a challenging external environment, Jordan’s economy continues to show resilience, reflecting sound macro-economic policies and structural reforms implemented over the past several years.

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the first review of Jordan’s program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The completion of the review makes another SDR 97.784 million (about US$130 million) available to Jordan, out of the previously approved program size of SDR 926.370 million (about US$1.2 billion and equivalent to 270 percent of Jordan’s quota) (see Press Release). The Executive Board’s decision on the first review was taken without a meeting.^[1]

Jordan’s economy continues to show resilience, including in the face of the challenges posed by the Israel–Gaza conflict and the disruptions to trade in the Red Sea. This reflects the strong progress that Jordan has made in recent years thanks to the steadfast implementation of sound macro-economic policies and structural reforms that have strengthened the country’s resilience and enabled it to weather the impact of successive external shocks. The economy continues to grow, with growth projected to moderate to 2.4 percent in 2024, after having reached 2.6 percent in 2023. Growth is expected to pick up pace in 2025, contingent upon the conflict ending and its impact fading. Inflation is low and reserve and reserve buffers are strong.

Despite this strong performance, challenges remain. Unemployment remains high. Importantly, the unsettled regional situation weighs on Jordan’s near-term outlook. Strong international support remains needed to support the authorities’ policy efforts and to help shoulder the cost of hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.

The authorities remain firmly committed to sound macro-economic policies and advancing structural reforms, to maintain macro stability, further strengthen economic resilience, and foster stronger, job-rich growth and improved living standards for all Jordanians. Fiscal policy remains focused on continuing to reduce public debt through a gradual fiscal consolidation, while expanding targeted support to vulnerable households and creating more room for public investment. Monetary policy remains focused on maintaining monetary and financial stability and safeguarding the exchange rate peg. The adverse impact of the conflict on growth and investment underscores the need to continue with, and to accelerate, structural reforms, to improve the viability of public utilities and to create a more dynamic private sector that can create more jobs and achieve the goals of the authorities’ Economic Modernization Vision.

[1] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.