Front Matter

Front Matter Page

© 2012 International Monetary Fund

May 2012

IMF Country Report No. 12/120

Jordan: Selected Issues

This selected issues paper on Jordan was prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund as background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member country. It is based on the information available at the time it was completed on March 26, 2012. The views expressed in this document are those of the staff team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the government of Jordan or the Executive Board of the IMF.

The policy of publication of staff reports and other documents by the IMF allows for the deletion of market-sensitive information.

Copies of this report are available to the public from

International Monetary Fund • Publication Services

700 19th Street, N.W. • Washington, D.C. 20431

Telephone: (202) 623-7430 • Telefax: (202) 623-7201

E-mail: publications@imf.org Internet: http://www.imf.org

International Monetary Fund

Washington, D.C.

Front Matter Page

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

JORDAN

Selected Issues

Prepared by Moataz El-Said, Yasser Abdih, Annette Kyobe, Mehdi Raissi, Agustin Roitman, and Hirut Wolde (all MCD), Anna Ter-Martirosyan, and Nkunde Mwase (both SPR)

Approved by the Middle East and Central Asia Department

March 26, 2012

Content

  • I. Energy Subsidies: Fiscally Burdensome and Inequitable

  • Figures

  • 1. Fiscal Cost of Energy Price Subsidies

  • 2. Jordan Domestic and International Diesel Prices

  • 3. Expenditure Shares of Energy Products by Welfare Level

  • 4. Share of Benefit from Energy Subsidies

Content

  • II. Oil Prices and the Jordanian Economy

  • Figures

  • 1. Oil Imports and Oil Prices

  • 2. External Income and its Composition

  • 3. External Income and Oil Prices

  • 4. Jordan’s Exports to GCC and Oil Prices

Content

  • III. Assessing Reserve Adequacy in Jordan

  • Figures

  • 1. Reserves to Imports

  • 2. Reserves to Short Term Debt

  • 3. Reserves to Broad Money

  • 4. Reserves to Short Term Debt + Current Account Deficit

  • 5. Model-Based Optimal Level of Reserves

  • 6. Reserves Against Risk-Weighted Metric

Content

  • IV. Jordan-Financial Conditions Index

  • Figure

  • 1. Jordan: Financial Conditions Index

Content

  • V. Drivers of Growth in Jordan

  • Figures

  • 1. Real GDP Growth Rate in Jordan

  • 2. Sector Shares of GDP by Decade

  • 3. Starting a Business—Global Rank

  • 4. Getting Credit—Global Rank

  • Tables

  • 1. Sectoral Contribution to Real Growth in Percentage Points

  • 2. Jordan’s Ranking for Doing Business 2011

Content

  • VI. Fiscal and Debt Implications of Mega Projects

  • Table

  • 1. Jordan: Consolidated Impact of Megaprojects on Central Government

Content

  • VII. The Employment Challenge Facing Jordan

  • Figures

  • 1. Unemployment Rates by Region

  • 2. Employment-to-Working Age Population Ratios and Labor Force Participation Rates By Region

  • Table

  • 1. Growth Required to Absorb New Labor Force Entrants and Currently Unemployed

Content

  • Taking Stock of Public Investment Efficiency, Capital Accumulation and Total Factor Productivity in Jordan

  • Figures

  • 1. Jordan Infrastructure

  • 2. PIMI Overall Index: Decomposition by Sub-Index

  • 3. PIMI Index and its Sub-Components: Selected Countries in MENA

  • 4. Output per Worker: MENA Region

  • Table

  • 1. Decomposition of Output Per Worker, 1992-2008