Ammon News - Jordanian finance ministry has said the kingdom's budget deficit during the first half of 2013 dropped by nearly 26% year-on-year, Jordan Times has reported.

Deficit stood at JD309.2m at June 30 this year, compared with JD416.7m in the January-June period last year, due to a rise in foreign grants and a slight increase in domestic revenues, the ministry said.

Without calculating the grants, the budget deficit is estimated to have reached JD742.4m during the period, up from the JD441.9m in the same period last year, it said.