Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund, Jihad Azour, said that he had reviewed with the prime minister, the minister of finance and the governor of the Central Bank of Jordan economic developments and growth prospects.

Azour told Petra that his first visit as a director at the IMF was an opportunity to learn directly about economic developments and renew the fund's support to Jordan in terms of providing the largest possible technical support and advice at this stage.

He pointed out that the visit, which ended today, coincided with the public debate about a proposed amendment to the Income Tax Law, stressing that the consultation with the government focused on the challenges facing the Kingdom and economic reforms that are taking place.

"We have discussed neither the draft bill nor the proposed amendment", Azour said.

On the fact that economic growth stood at 2.2 percent in the first quarter of the year, Azour explained that the regional situation was unfavorable in 2017, in light of political and security conditions.

He said that Jordan and the region need higher levels of growth to sufficient employment opportunities for young people entering the labor market and address the problem of unemployment.

He pointed out that the main objectives of the reform program with the government is to achieve a higher level of growth in the largest number of social strata, maintain financial and monetary stability and re-release part of the credits to be used in the development of infrastructure and improve the business environment and increase the competitiveness of the national economy .

Azour said there was no single recipe for growth that would suit all countries, but "the first entrance to growth is financial stability and reducing public debt".

As for Jordan, he stressed the importance of maintaining stability in the first place and giving confidence to investors and distributing the burdens in a fair manner.

In this regard, he praised measures taken by the Central Bank of Jordan to stimulate SMEs and start-ups and provide them with appropriate financing tools.