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Ammon News - * Syrian business people’s activities drive trend

by Omar Obeidat/ The Jordan Times


AMMAN –– Increasing inflows of remittances and investments have boosted demand for the Jordanian dinar, according to a top representative of money changers.

“There is a huge demand for the dinar currently as Jordanian professionals abroad are transferring large amounts of money into the country,” Alaa Eddine Diraniyeh, president of the Jordanian Exchange Association, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday.

The sector leader also attributed the “sharp” demand for the local currency to rising exports as well as to “strong tourism activity”.

Another driver behind the demand for the dinar is the investments made by Syrian businesspeople who sought refuge in Jordan, according to Diraniyeh. He added that some Syrians in the Kindgom have begun establishing factories and buying lands or housing properties.

He noted that demand for the dinar over the past few weeks has been stronger than this time last year, and is expecting demand to surge in summer when the tourism season starts and Jordanian workers abroad return for holidays in the Kingdom.

“We expect the summer season to be very promising because currently Jordan is the preferred destination for tourists from the Gulf region, particularly Saudis,” he said.

“The only tourist competitor for Jordan in the region is Turkey,” Diraniyeh added.

According to figures released recently by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), remittances of Jordanians abroad reached around JD591 million ($836 million) during the first quarter of the year, a 4.1 per cent increase over the same period of last year.

CBJ figures indicated that tourism receipts also went up by 1.7 per cent during the January-March period of 2013 to over JD550 million.

The Kingdom’s exports during the first two months of the year increased by 2.5 per cent from JD853.9 million in the January-February period of last year to JD875.1 million, according to the Department of Statistics.