Driven by Higher Fuel and Dairy Prices
Jordan’s general consumer price index (CPI) recorded a 2.13% rise to reach 108.95 points for January-November 2023 compared to 106.68 during the same period last year, Petra reported Monday.
The higher inflation was attributed to a jump in fuel and lighting group prices by 6.76%, dairy products, and eggs by 5.95%, culture and entertainment by 4.89%, personal effects by 4.80%, and furniture, carpets, and bedding by 4.47%.
For November, inflation increased by 1.27% to reach 109.56 points, up from 108.19 in the same month last year.
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The monthly increase was propelled by a rise in the personal effects group by 7.04%, followed by tobacco and cigarettes at 5.22%, rents at 3.25%, dairy products and eggs at 3.21%, and grains at 2.53%. However, some categories decreased, such as dry and canned vegetables and legumes by 3.34%, fuel and lighting by 2.96%, home textiles by 1.42%, and culture and entertainment by 1.03%.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in May, that the Arab country needed to speed up structural economic reforms to boost growth beyond the 2-3% average it has reached in recent years.
A growth rate projection of 2.6% for this year was still insufficient to improve living standards in a country with a population of nearly eleven million and population growth of around 2% annually, he said.
“With unemployment still high, and particularly among the youth and women, structural reforms are essential for achieving strong and inclusive growth and creating more jobs,” IMF official Ron van Rooden told reporters at the time. Growth is needed to ease high unemployment, which stands at around 22.9%, he added.
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In November, the government endorsed the draft general budget law for 2024 with estimated public revenues of $14.5 billion (JOD 10.3 billion), marking an increase of 8.9% compared with 2023.
Meanwhile, current and capital expenditures are projected at $14.9 billion (JOD 10.6 billion) and $2.4 billion (JOD 1.7 billion), respectively, for 2024.
The 2024 draft budget reduced the preliminary deficit, which the government works to reduce to $1.1 billion (JOD 812 million), or by 2.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 2.6% in 2023.
