Compass – The World Bank warned of shocks resulting from poverty and low income rates in Jordan, in light of the escalation of the poverty rate in the country, at rates higher than the period before the Corona pandemic.

In its report on total poverty in the developing world, for the year 2023, the bank attributed this to being relatively high, in addition to the fact that the real income rates of Jordanians remained suppressed.

The report predicted that rates will not be reduced rapidly during the current year, due to the continued weak economic growth rates, and the ongoing challenges to the economy related to limited job opportunities, division of the labor market, low labor productivity, and weak household income growth rates.

And previous estimates by the World Bank at the end of 2021 expected that the Corona pandemic would lead to a possible short-term increase in the poverty rate in Jordan by 11 percent, in addition to the official rate announced before the Corona pandemic, which was 15.7 percent, bringing it, according to estimates, to about 26.7 percent, up from Estimates of former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh, who had indicated in previous press statements that unemployment rates rose in Jordan temporarily to about 24 percent during 2021.

The report pointed to the dominance of regional and global pressures on the Jordanian social and economic scene during the past decade, which led to a slowdown in growth rates, in addition to a contraction in the real growth of the Jordanian individual. And that is by adopting a progressive response, maintaining overall stability, and showing flexibility after Corona and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

He pointed out that global risks, including the escalation of geopolitical tensions, the rise in commodity prices, and the tightening of financial conditions pose great challenges for Jordan, especially with regard to the financial sustainability of the water and electricity sectors, in addition to fears of the impact of climate change on Jordan due to higher temperatures and lower levels of precipitation. This could exacerbate the water scarcity crisis in Jordan, including water pricing, as Jordan may be highly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions and food security risks.

He explained that labor market conditions remain the biggest threat to the well-being of Jordanian families, as employment recovered modestly, while the labor force participation rate remained low at 33.7 percent. The unemployment rate reached 22.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 19.0 percent during the same period in the fourth quarter of 2019.

It is noteworthy that the unemployment rate in the Kingdom had reached 24.8 percent in the second quarter of the year 2021, which is the highest unemployment rate in the history of the Kingdom, before it decreased during the past year to 22.9 percent, compared to 24 percent at the end of the previous year, according to data. Department of Statistics.

The report also indicated that labor market conditions remain complex in light of high inflation rates, as all this indicates that household income may not have fully recovered from the Corona pandemic crisis, which makes a large proportion of the non-poor population vulnerable to poverty due to low income. .