Ammon News - Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), Adel Sharkas, said the bank's "flexible" monetary policy enabled establishment of "strong" foundations for the Kingdom's monetary and banking stability and contributed to preserved all its components, turning it into "tangible facts," despite the world's "unfavorable" external economic environment.

Delivering a lecture at Yarmouk University on Sunday, Entitled: "Monetary Policy and Its Role in Achieving Macroeconomic Stability", Sharkas highlighted importance of monetary stability, a CBJ main goal, which is a cornerstone of macroeconomic stability, and a major enabler for promoting economic growth and creating an attractive investment environment, and future medium-long term planning.

Sharkas noted the bank's credibility and independence constituted a factor of confidence in the Jordanian dinar and the national economy, which contributed to maintaining the CBJ's high foreign currency reserves that cover more than seven months of the Kingdom's imports of goods and services.

Regarding the CBJ's recent decisions related to raising interest rates, Sharkas stressed that these steps were based on the bank's commitment to safeguarding the Kingdom's monetary stability by maintaining attractiveness of savings in Jordanian dinars, and containing inflationary pressures resulting from domestic demand

Sharkas also noted total facilities granted by banks increased by JD1.7 billion on an annual basis until the end of last June, with a growth rate of 5.2% to reach JD33.5 billion.

Meanwhile, he said deposits grew by 3.9%, and by JD1.6 billion on an annual basis during the same period of 2023 to record about JD42.5 billion , most of which are deposits in Jordanian dinar.

Sharkas noted inflationary pressures in the Kingdom continue to decline, with an inflation rate of 3% during the first half of 2023.