Press Release No. 10/134

Press Release: Statement by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Conclusion of His Visit to the Kingdom of Jordan

April 4, 2010

Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today in Amman at the conclusion of his visit to the Kingdom of Jordan:

“I wish to thank His Majesty King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Prime Minister Samir Rifai, Central Bank of Jordan Governor Umayya Toukan, and other senior officials for their warm hospitality and productive discussions we had on the state of the Jordanian economy and the way forward.

“The Jordanian economy has proven resilient to the global financial crisis, thanks to sound economic management and prudent supervision and regulation of the country’s financial sector. However, as a very open economy with strong trade links with the region and the rest of the world, the Kingdom has been affected by the global and regional economic slowdown. Output growth is expected to pick up to about 4 percent in 2010, reflecting slowly-recovering global and regional conditions.

“I welcome the authorities’ plans to press ahead with intended fiscal consolidation to reduce vulnerabilities related to the high level of public debt, and the slowdown in external grants.

“We agreed that recent monetary easing to stimulate domestic demand has been appropriate, given the slowdown in the allocation of bank credit to the private sector in 2009. I supported the monetary authority's resolve to remain watchful for emerging inflationary pressures.

“Looking beyond the immediate task of managing the impact of the global financial crisis, I welcome the authorities’ plans outlined in their National Agenda, involving the implementation of political, economic, and social reforms designed to facilitate the transformation of the Kingdom into a highly-competitive, knowledge-based economy.

“I particularly look forward to my interactions with the students participating in the IMF Middle East Youth Dialog, which will be highlighted by a meeting to be held this evening in Amman, and which follows a series of roundtable discussions held in recent months with students and IMF staff in several Middle East countries.

“I would like to thank the people of Jordan for their hospitality. The IMF will continue to work closely with them and support their economic reforms and efforts to achieve strong and sustainable economic growth.”