Jordan’s debt hits record high

Jordan’s debt reached its highest-ever level at the end of September as the Arab kingdom continued to borrow to finance its budget deficit.

Public debt rose to around JOD35.8 billion ($50.4 billion) as of September 30 from nearly JOD34.1 billion at the close of 2024, the finance ministry said in a budget report this week.

Most of the increase occurred in domestic debt, which climbed to around JOD15.9 billion from JOD14.8 billion during the period.

Foreign debt rose to JOD19.9 billion from JOD19.3 billion, accounting for 54 percent of the country’s liabilities at the end of September.

The increase boosted the debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of September to around 83 percent, one of the world’s highest.

The ministry’s report showed the budget deficit stood at around JOD1.8 billion in the first nine months of this year against a shortfall of JOD2.8 billion in 2024.

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Jordan has suffered from large budget gaps in recent years, ranging between 3 and 7 percent of GDP in the absence of major new income sources.

The country’s cumulative deficit exceeded $11 billion during 2020-2024 and was entirely financed through borrowing, a report by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund, a key Arab League financial establishment, showed.

Debt servicing weighs heavily on Jordan’s annual budgets given relatively low revenue growth and high spending. In 2023, Jordan’s debt servicing hit one of its loftiest levels on record at around $4.3 billion, the AMF said.