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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, on Wednesday, said any measures the government will take to address public debt and budget deficit will not entail raising the prices of basic commodities or harm the middle class and the poor.

The prime minister said that more than 70 per cent of food staples will not see a hike in taxes or customs fees, adding that luxury goods that are not consumed by the poor and middle class will see their prices increased.

Al-Mulki told lawmakers that the government will not increase the prices of gas cylinder or school supplies and stationary or medicines, saying his government is mulling the taxation of an optional service in the telecom sector.

He stressed that 2017 will be a year of fiscal control and spending cuts, indicating that the government will not buy vehicles or office furniture for public agencies. Additionally, the prime minister said he ordered the finance ministry to put a ceiling for senior state employees' salaries. He also pointed out that he instructed the ministry of foreign and expatriates affairs to reduce the number of diplomats in the Kingdom's embassies abroad to slash expenditure.