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Ammon News - The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) completion of the first review of Jordan’s performance under the program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) underlines the Kingdom's commitment to introducing structural reforms that help economy rebound and propel growth, Minister of Finance Muhammad Ississ said Tuesday.

The IMF's completion of the first review of the Kingdom's performance under the EEF-supported program is a testament of the Fund's confidence in measures taken by the Jordanian government following the coronavirus outbreak, the minister added in a statement.

He stressed that the IMF's announcement "is an indicator that will positively reflect on the confidence of donors, investors and global markets", noting that Jordan was the first country to access the Fund's program in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the minister said the increase in unemployment rates as a result of the pandemic remains the government's prime concern, indicating that the priority now is recovery and putting the economy back on an upward trajectory.

Ississ explained that the IMF-sponsored program pursues structural reforms aimed at reducing business-doing costs, improving government transparency, and increasing public revenues by combating tax evasion and tax avoidance without introducing any new taxes or hiking any existing taxes.

Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, said in the IMF statement that the impact of COVID-19 on the Jordanian economy has been sizable, but the authorities have responded with timely and targeted measures to protect lives and livelihoods, while also preserving debt sustainability and market access.

Despite the sizeable challenges, he added, Jordanian authorities remain committed to gradually rebuilding policy buffers and arresting the rise in public debt, preserving the credibility of the peg, accelerating electricity sector reforms, and enhancing labor market, business climate, and governance reforms to promote higher and more inclusive growth.

Furusawa indicated that in the near term, Jordan's fiscal policy will continue to focus on supporting the economy, with enhanced flexibility in the program to accommodate unanticipated spending related to the pandemic, as well as additional social protection spending.

He emphasized that high-quality fiscal measures should underpin a gradual fiscal consolidation as the recovery takes hold.

In this regard, he said, the Jordanian authorities’ strategy should focus on broadening the tax base through both tax policy and tax administration reforms, eliminating pressures from public utilities and public-private partnerships and improving the fairness, efficiency, and transparency of public finances.