Amman – Raed Sbeih

At a time when the Jordanian market is still witnessing a clear stagnation in various sectors, observers hope that the coming days will witness an improvement in commercial activity and demand for markets, especially with the onset of the summer season, the return of expatriates, and the end of the school season.

The economist, Mounir Diyah, expressed his hope that the markets, especially the clothing market, would witness an active commercial movement before the blessed Eid Al-Adha, despite all the difficult economic conditions and the great financial burdens faced by the Jordanian citizen, stressing at the same time that the return of expatriates, the school and university holidays, and the payment of salaries for the month of June Before the holiday, factors that would contribute to some extent in moving the markets.

Daya said in his statements to:compass“It is quite clear that since the beginning of the year 2023 and the difficult economic conditions that the citizen is going through as a result of the high cost of living, the increase in burdens in terms of loans, the increase in interest in banks, and the rise in prices of basic materials, fuel, fuel, energy, and others.

He added that all these burdens have accumulated on the citizen at a time when incomes have eroded and his purchasing power has declined, and therefore the citizen has re-arranged his priorities since the beginning of this year, and has begun to care about the basics if he can actually cover them with the remainder of his salary, with regard to housing, food and drink, treatment, health, education and others. He added, however, by saying: If something is too much after paying the basics, the citizen goes to luxuries such as clothes, furniture, electrical and household appliances, and other sectors.

He added that these sectors have been affected and their work, performance and market movement declined since the beginning of the year because the citizen is in light of the accumulation of obligations on him, especially after the rise in interest rates on loans, and they ate a lot of his income, which prompted citizens to be more cautious in the movement of purchase and shopping.

recession since the beginning of the year

Dayyeh said: We have not seen a real movement in the markets since the beginning of this year in these economic sectors, except at the end of the days of the blessed month of Ramadan, when there was a movement and otherwise there is a state of stagnation and decline as a result of the reasons we mentioned.

As for Eid al-Adha, he said: Until now, there are no signs of movement, demand, or increased demand or increased movement in the markets.

He explained by saying: A few days separate us from Eid Al-Adha, and until now there are no real procedures for postponing the installments, which we have always stressed that in the two seasons of holidays the citizen needs to postpone, and we are talking about liquidity of 180 million dinars that will be pumped into the markets in the form of cash, and move Many sectors, such as clothing, gifts, sweets, and furnishings, work to stimulate the market, increase the movement of markets, and increase the purchasing power of the citizen.

Dayah added, “But it is quite clear that the banks took their decision a few days ago that there will be no postponement of the installments, and therefore the citizen today will go to the Eid with the same procedures that he went to Eid Al-Fitr, from many obligations, especially since Eid Al-Adha there are sacrifices and religious rituals that the citizen must perform.” It takes from his income and liquidity, in addition to the Eid supplies such as clothes, gifts, sweets, and others.

The coming period is difficult

Diya said: The citizen today is entering a period that will be difficult and loaded with obligations and burdens, and he is unable to face these obligations with this income and poor salary or what is left of it after bank deductions and the obligations required of him.

And he noted by saying: Indeed, we hope that with the start of the school holidays, the movement of citizens will increase in the markets, and we hope with the return of expatriates who, within a few days, began to flock to the Kingdom, and they are in numbers of hundreds of thousands, and if they come to spend the Eid vacation in Amman, many sectors will witness an active movement. From restaurants, hotels, tourist cars, and other service sectors that will move other sectors.

And he continued his speech: “We hope that with the return of the expatriates and the disbursement of the June salary on time a few days before the Eid, with the holidays of schools and universities, and therefore all this with the entry of the peak of the summer season, and we hope after the Eid that there will be many social events such as weddings and graduations of universities, dignitaries, And other events that are postponed until the expatriates return and after the Eid.

Diya concluded his remarks to:compassBy saying: We hope with all these reasons that the market will witness movement and recovery other than the coming period, and that these reasons will push the market, and we hope that the numbers of tourists coming from outside Jordan will work to increase movement, increase purchasing power, and increase demand for goods, including the sector Clothing.

Market movement is slow

On Monday, Sultan Allan, head of the Clothing and Shoe Merchants Syndicate, confirmed that the market movement was “very” slow with the approach of Eid al-Adha, hoping that the purchasing movement would improve in the coming days.

He added, in his response to the “Kingdom” inquiries regarding the marketing movement with the approach of Eid Al-Adha, that the movement is currently very slow, attributing the reason to weak purchasing power.

He pointed out that most of the Eid-related goods are now available in the market, and there are no problems with the customs clearance file, but the current problem is chaos in the clothing market, as there are no decisions regarding postal parcels and the organization of random markets in Al-Wahdat, Al-Hussein, Al-Zarqa, Aqaba, and others.

Allan believes that the tax burden on the sector is high.

Allan said that Eid al-Adha comes with the summer season and the beginning of the wedding season and school holidays, noting that the prices of clothes and sacrifices will be within the normal levels.

The clothing, shoes and fabrics sector, the largest commercial sector in the country, occupies about 11,000 establishments throughout the Kingdom, and 63,000 direct workers, the majority of whom are Jordanian, while there are 180 brands of clothing and shoes operating and investing in the local market.

(compass)