Compass – Amman

The former deputy and member of the Finance Committee, Musa Al-Wahsh, warned of the danger of the public debt figures that the Kingdom has reached, in relation to the value of the gross domestic product, considering that these figures raise the alarm.

Al-Wahsh said in a statement to Al-Basala that governments usually try to reduce the importance of public debt figures, but the matter is different. The deficit that appears in the budget will reach large numbers, and as a result of this deficit, the state will bear new debt burdens.

He explained that this will affect the level of life and livelihood of the citizen, as unemployment figures rise significantly, while the segment of poverty and the poor expand, while this will be reflected in the rise in prices in general, and on fuel prices in particular, but the effect is to the degree that the debt increases, especially when its value is from the output. GDP is greater than 110%.

He considered that the arrival of debt to these figures is a dangerous indicator from all directions, especially in the inflation figures, which requires obtaining new loans, and consequently an increase in prices, and this means a decline and slowdown in the growth of the economy in general, which affects the standard of living of the citizen.

Al-Wahsh indicated that these numbers affect investment, because the investor is interested in linking investment to the purchasing power of citizens, expecting that these numbers will affect the size, value and number of investments that will significantly decrease.

The former MP ruled out reaching the stage of bankruptcy despite the announced figures for the public debt and its percentage of GDP, due to the commitment of international donors to provide loans to Jordan. .

He believed that the increase in loans and the difficulty of obtaining funds from abroad will push the state to internal borrowing, and thus the government will tend to issue bonds and obtain internal loans, which will affect the volume of investments and thus directly reflect on poverty, unemployment and the standard of living of citizens.

The total public debt to the gross domestic product in Jordan reached 110.6% in the first 5 months of this year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The total public debt amounted to 36.319 billion dinars in the first 5 months of 2022.