Jordan bank optimistic on economy and foreign exchange

24 Jun, 2007

Jordan's economy is doing well and there are no currency problems on the horizon, the country's central bank governor said on Saturday. "I am optimistic when I look at all variables and find that they are in the right direction," central bank governor Umayya Toukan told journalists on the sidelines of the Bank for International Settlements annual meeting.
"Overall the performance (of the economy) is gratifying," he said. "We will still have robust growth at 6 percent." The International Monetary Fund forecasts Jordan's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 6.0 percent this year, the same rate as last year.
Currency reserves were rising and the current account improving, Toukan said. The country is also on track to reach its debt goals. "We are not far from the 60 percent target for our debt as a percentage of GDP," he said. The good performance was a result of political and economic reforms together with fiscal and monetary discipline, he said.
When asked whether he saw any problems with the currency's development, he said: "No, our reserves are increasing all the times, so that must be in the right direction." Toukan said he saw no need for a more active policy from the Jordan central bank. "We take our decisions after examining all variables in the economy," he said.

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