Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) The government on Monday approved a JD7.456-billion budget for 2013 with estimated deficit at JD1.310 billion or 5.4 percent of projected gross domestic product, the Ministry of Finance announced.

A ministry statement showed that expected current spending will be JD6.210 billion while JD1.246 billion will be capital expenditure. Revenue will be around JD6.146 billion; JD5.296 billion of which are local revenue while JD850 million will be foreign grants. The budget deficit will be JD2.160 billion before adding foreign assistance and JD1.310 billion after adding foreign aid.

Finance Minister Suleiman al-Hafez said in the statement that the 2013 budget will see capital spending soaring by 76.6 percent and current spending dropping by 2.1 percent compared with 2012.

He added that the government drafted the budget while taking into account the national program for economic and financial reform and self-dependence as local revenue is set to cover 85.3 percent of current expenditure in 2013.