Ammon News - JT- Jordan’s public debt is expected to reach JD20 billion by the end of this year, a 20 per cent increase when compared to 2012 year-end figures, a government official said.

At the end of last year, public debt, foreign and domestic, stood at JD16.6 billion.

The official, who preferred to remain unnamed, indicated the ratio of public debt to the gross domestic product (GDP) would reach around 80 per cent, a percentage he described as “too high”.

Late last month, the government issued $1.25 billion in US-guaranteed eurobonds that carried an interest rate of 2.503 per cent and are set to mature in 2020.

Authorities plan to issue another round of eurobonds on international financial markets during the first quarter of next year, Finance Minister Umayya Toukan has announced recently.

By the end of July 2013, the total debt reached JD17.6 billion, an amount that represents 73.5 per cent of the estimated GDP for 2013. The percentage is two points lower than the 2012 GDP.

According to the 2013 State Budget Law, the value of interest payments on government debt is set to reach JD800 million, which means it will consume around 10.7 per cent of this year’s JD7.4 billion state budget.

The value of interest is projected to increase to JD930 million in 2014 and to over JD1 billion in 2015.

The official said that as long as there is a deficit in the government’s spending bill, debt levels will continue to rise.

The source noted that the budget deficit is forecast to go down next year from JD1.3 billion, or 5.4 per cent of the GDP, to around JD1 billion, or 4 per cent of the GDP.