ammonnews.net

Ammon News - Minister of Finance, Dr. Muhammad Issis, said that the government realizes that the economic pain and financial difficulties experienced by Jordanians are “real.”

Issis added in the budget speech to the House of Representatives on Monday, that the government realizes that the feeling of frustration that threatens our job-seeking youth is real, and it is at the forefront of our priorities when we make budgets and draw plans.

And he indicated that the government is also aware that the decline in purchasing power in light of the high cost of living, and the distortion of the tax burden by raising it on the middle class instead of those with higher incomes, and its dependence on indirect consumption taxes at the expense of fair income taxes that distinguish between the rich and the poor, and the decline in the level of services and infrastructure after years of reducing capital spending, the risks of continuing to rise in the budget deficit and the accumulation of public debt, structural challenges have weakened the economy and affected the standard of living of citizens.

He stressed that the government fully believes that achieving the legitimate goals of citizens requires preparing a response that balances the requirements of economic stability and the aspirations of citizens, within a realistic context.

He added that Jordan stands today, as the whole world, on the threshold of a stage in which we are witnessing a year in which the global economy is exposed to turbulent economic conditions, interacting as a result of stormy international conditions that are open to possibilities and Jordan, which was not immune from these developments, has gone through difficult circumstances and many crises throughout its history, which it managed to overcome steadfastly.

As the world stands today, after emerging from the Corona pandemic, the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the inflationary stagnation, facing crucial challenges.

He pointed out that the sense of responsibility requires us to move away from temporary solutions which will inevitably return to us in a short time in the form of deeper and more painful structural problems.

Since this government was appointed, it has worked under a declared and implicit pact to avoid extravagance in promises and not to raise the level of expectations without facts, Issis said.

The Minister of Finance said that Jordan stands between two major pressures, a pressure related to the citizen's living crisis, and another pressure related to state finances and the priority of maintaining its stability.

The hands that worked on drawing up the state's financial plan for this year were aware of that. It was trying hard to bring about relief for the people on the one hand, and maintaining the stability of public finances, on the other hand, the Minister indicated.

Issis explained that the public interest requires working on developing our limited resources with the prudent use of them in order to confront our fundamental problems.

This is the responsibility of a moral government that rises above every consideration, Issis added.

He counited by saying that poverty and unemployment rates will not drop to an acceptable level on their own, but rather by raising the competitiveness of the economy to attract domestic and foreign investment, which is our tool through which we work to create jobs for our youth looking for work.