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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A package of government measures aimed at enhancing the economy, stimulating investment and improving the quality of services was announced on Sunday as part of an integrated program that will be implemented within a timeframe starting within days and over several months.

During a discussion session held at the Royal Cultural Center, Prime Minister, Omar Razzaz, announced the four axes of the national program.

Razzaz said the four axes, which the government pledged to carry out, focus on revitalizing the national economy, stimulating investment, improving the citizens' living standards, and upgrading the quality of services provided to citizens, in addition to administrative reform and public finances.

On the first package, the details of which were announced today, included measures and decisions in the axis of "revitalizing the national economy and stimulating investment, mainly boosting the real estate industry and housing market by reducing the prices of land allocated for sale through the Housing and Urban Development Corporation.

Under the measures, the decision to exempt fees on land parceling-out will continue until the end of 2019, in addition to the first 150-square meter apartments and land from registration and ownership transfer, regardless of the apartments' size and the number of apartments per Jordanian, and reduction of registration and ownership transfer fees for apartments by 50 percent.

The incentive measures also included the implementation of the National Housing Program "Affordable Housing", and the launch of low-interest housing loans through the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) in the governorates and the capital that benefit from the aforementioned program.

The procedures also included the activation of the insolvency law to give the defaulting investors an opportunity to continue and recover.

On stimulating the productive sectors, exports and employment, the government package focuses on granting direct incentives to the investor in the industrial and commercial sector and within specified standards, offering JD 240 annually for each Jordanian worker employed to replace an expatriate peer, and providing government health insurance for the new Jordanian worker and his family.

Regarding the reduction of energy costs on the mentioned sectors, the government has taken measures aimed to reducing the electricity tariff on the medium and small industries by 10 fils per (kWh), and granting preferential prices to all productive sectors on the additional consumption of electricity compared to the previous year, in addition to reducing the maximum load fine on the agricultural sector to become 2 JD per (kW / month) instead of JD(3,79) per kilowatt / month.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State, Rajai Muasher said that today's plan requires linking the incentives with performance indicators, including the beneficiary company's ability to export, to strengthen the production base, its contribution to local development, employment and introduction of modern technology.

Minister of Finance Ezzeddine Kanakria said the stimulus program will be end-to-end and aims to stimulate economic growth, adding that the government is currently drafting the 2020 budget, which envisions controlled expenditures and linking them to priorities.

He disclosed the government's plan for real estate stimulation, which will include the further development of a number of incentives announced in May this year.

Minister of Public Works and Housing Falah Omoush said that the government grants housing loans in cooperation with the Central Bank of Jordan at low murabaha rates of 3.5 percent for beneficiaries from outside Amman and 4 percent for beneficiaries inside the capital and exempt them from ownership transfer fees.

Omoush added that the government's priorities for 2019-2020 aim to provide and sell 1700 plots of residential infrastructure-served land of about 300-350 square meters per plot under soft facilities where the advance payment will not exceed 15 percent of the price.