AMMAN, 8 June 2005 — Jordan’s trade deficit grew by 44.6 percent in the first quarter of the year, to 1.251 billion dinars ($1.767 billion), from 865 million dinars ($1.222 billion) in the same period of 2004, according to official statistics released on Monday.
Economists attributed the widening trade gap mainly to a 30.4 percent growth in the country’s imports, which the state-run Statistics Department put at 2.182 billion dinars ($3.082 billion) in the first three months of the year, compared to 1.674 billion dinars ($2.364 billion) in the first quarter of last year. They noticed that the rising oil bill and the existence of more than 400,000 Iraqis in the country are to blame for the sharp rise in imports. Jordan’s oil bill amounted in the first quarter of the year to 363 million dinars ($513 million), or 16.6 percent of total imports. Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s main crude supplier, topped the list of exporting countries to Jordan, with Saudi goods accounting for 24.6 percent of the country’s total import, the Statistics Department said.
Germany came next, supplying Jordan with 8.3 percent of its total imports, while the United States ranked third, it added.
However, Jordan’s exports and re-exports in the first quarter of 2005 increased by 15.1 percent, to 931 million dinars ($1.314 billion), from 809 million dinars ($1.143 billion) in the same period of last year.
The United States topped the list of importers from Jordan, followed by Iraq and India.
The widening trade gap is expected to fuel speculation about an imminent government decision to hike prices of oil derivatives.
