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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister, Omar Razzaz, said citizens have a constitutional right to express their opinion on the income tax draft law, oppose it, protest against it and propose alternatives to its articles, but they have to respect others and not to prevent and hinder the dialogue.

During a meeting with students of the Jordan University of Science and Technology on Tuesday, the prime minister noted that what the ministerial team faces in its visits to the governorates to hold discussions on the law is a "public anger" piled up over tens of years.

On the income tax draft law, Razzaz explained that the idea of the law is to end the deficit accumulated in the budget or else the deficit would lead to indebtedness.

He added that these tax reforms in the law will exempt the next generation from bearing the burden of indebtedness.

He pointed out that that the second goal of amending the law is to address tax evasion, which is an essential part of the new law, by reducing areas of evasion, stressing that the government made sure that its articles would be fair.

The premier emphasized that the alternative "in case we didn't endorse a clear law in 2018" is to face risks next year, the most important of which is paying JD1 billion as interest on foreign debts "which reflects 3 to 4 percent of the interest we pay on debts."

Some of these loans are due in 2019, he said, adding that the government will finance them again and risk that the percentage would rise by 8 or 9 percent, which would be reflected on higher expenditures rather that on public transportation, health and education services.

"What we need today is time, we have programs in short, medium and long terms, but we have to know that this matter needs patience," the prime minister concluded