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Ammon News - Jordan ranked 2nd in the Arab World and 14th globally on the list of borrowers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with a debt of $1.54 billion.

The IMF experts recently reached a staff-level agreement with Jordan on a program of economic and structural reforms, supported by a new four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, worth approximately $1.2 billion.

The government's performance has been consistently strong over the past years with regard to the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF noted.

Jordan maintained macroeconomic stability in the face of successive external shocks, and reduced public financial imbalances and the trade balance, according to the IMF.

Jordan also maintained access to financial markets while strengthening social safety nets. Also, significant progress has been made in implementing structural reforms to promote inclusive growth.

The IMF confirmed that it will continue with the new program to support Jordan in the face of new shocks, with a focus on continuing fiscal control policies to put public debt on a continuing low curve, maintain financial and monetary stability, and accelerate the pace of structural reforms to support growth and enhance job creation.

The global debt owed to the IMF by 94 countries in the world amounted to about $112.5 billion, including 15%, about half of the Arab countries, 10 countries, with $16.9 billion.

Four Arab countries are among the 20 largest debtors to the IMF, led by Egypt with $11.47 billion, ranking second globally, and its debts constitute 68% of Arab debts to the fund, according to data from the IMF on January 24.

Jordan ranked second place in the Arab world (14th globally), with debts of $1.54 billion, then Morocco with $1.34 billion (17th globally), and Tunisia with $1.14 billion, (20th globally).

Arab countries with high debts were affected by the rise in interest rates to their highest levels in more than 20 years, which exacerbated the interest on their debts.