Overview: Jordan was a secondary beneficiary of the oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when its GNP growth averaged 10-12%. Recent years, however, have witnessed a sharp reduction in cash aid from Arab oil-producing countries and in worker remittances, with growth averaging 1-2%. Imports--mainly oil, capital goods, consumer durables, and foodstuffs--have been outstripping exports by roughly $2 billion annually, the difference being made up by aid, remittances, and borrowing. In 1989 the government is pursuing policies to encourage private investment, curb imports of luxury goods, promote exports, reduce the budget deficit, and, in general, reinvigorate economic growth. Success will depend largely on exogenous forces, such as the absence of drought and a pick-up in outside support. Down the road, the completion of the proposed Unity Dam on the Yarmuk is vital to meet rapidly growing requirements for water.

GNP: $4.9 billion, per capita $1,780; real growth rate 2.1% (1986)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 0.3% (1987)

Unemployment rate: 9-10% (January 1989 est.)

Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Exports: $723 million (f.o.b., 1987); @m5commodities--fruits and vegetables, phosphates, fertilizers; @m5partners--Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India, Kuwait, Japan, China, Yugoslavia, Indonesia

Imports: $2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1987); @m5commodities--crude oil, textiles, capital goods, motor vehicles, foodstuffs; @m5partners--EC, US, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey, Romania, China, Taiwan

External debt: $5.6 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate 1.4% (1986)

Electricity: 979,000 kW capacity; 3,310 million kWh produced, 1,160 kWh per capita (1988)

Industries: phosphate mining, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light manufacturing

Agriculture: vegetables, fruits, olive oil, wheat; self-sufficient in few foodstuffs

Aid: NA

Currency: Jordanian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils

Exchange rates: Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1--0.4857 (January 1989), 0.3715 (1988), 0.3387 (1987), 0.3499 (1986), 0.3940 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Jordan on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jordan Economy 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jordan Economy 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.