378 million dinars budget deficit in the first third of this year

 Media In / Amman 7 June 2018

The budget recorded in the first third of this year a deficit of 378 million dinars after grants, compared to a deficit of 146.7 million dinars for the same period of 2017. The Ministry of Finance said in its monthly bulletin issued on Thursday that the deficit before external grants amounted to about 452 million dinars compared to a deficit of about 231.7 million dinars for the same comparison period. The ministry attributed the increase in the deficit to the disbursement of about 155 million dinars for the item of annual monetary support owed to citizens at one time for the whole year instead of 12 payments, noting that the government is working to achieve the deficit estimated in the law of the general budget of about 537 million dinars. The ministry pointed out that the deficit will decline by the end of this year to reach the target levels with the receipt of most of the grants, especially the US grant. Total public revenues (local and grants) in the first half of this year amounted to JD 2463.6 million compared to JD 2366 million for the same period of 2017. Local revenues increased by KD 108.4 million to JD 2389 million compared to JD 2281.1 million for the same period of 2017, as a result of the increase in tax revenues by KD 30.6 million and the increase in non-tax revenues by KD 77.8 million.