Jordan expects economic growth up to 3%

Jordan expects the economy to grow by 2.8 percent to 3 percent this year compared with 2.6 percent in 2011, said Deputy Central Bank Governor Maher Sheikh Hasan. “There is a good improvement in different sectors in Jordan so far and we expect a growth in 2012 that is better than 2011,” he said in an interview in Amman today. The Arab country is in the final stages of preparing a law to govern selling Islamic bonds, Sheikh Hasan said. “It is among the government’s priorities to finish the law, which will positively affect Jordan’s economy,” he said. Jordan’s energy costs have spurred the government to seek ways to reduce expenditure, possibly by reducing subsidies, he said. “There is a need to ration the use of energy in Jordan because anything sold at less than its real cost encourages more consumption,” he said.