Jordan Times
Monday, February 6, 2006
House committee issues
recommendations
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — The Lower House Financial Committee on
Sunday recommended reducing public expenditure by JD90 million in a bid to
narrow the budget deficit by 0.9 per cent.
In its reply to the government's 2006 draft budget, the committee linked its
approval of the bill with several demands focusing on improving the living
conditions of public sector employees and tightening controls on the spending of
independent public institutions.
In a detailed report, the committee said the government must refrain from
issuing supplements to the budget or any kind of spending without consulting the
House.
The report suggested imposing a 5-fils tax on phone calls and a five per
thousand fee on the overall trading volume at the Amman Stock Exchange.
According to government figures, the budget deficit for 2006 is JD450 million,
5.4 per cent the GDP. The budget deficit before grants is JD676 million, 6.9 per
cent of the GDP.
On privatisation, the committee said the Lower House should be consulted before
it forges ahead with selling government-owned enterprises.
The committee noted that the ever-increasing cost of living has taken its toll
on public sector employees, therefore the government should “raise salaries and
pensions of government employees and retired military and civil personnel when
it raises fuel prices.
The committee also called for raising the minimum wage from JD85 to JD95 to
combat poverty in the Kingdom.
In addition, it asked the government to introduce a draft law within three
months that allows the Lower House to monitor the financial activities of
independent institutions.
Other recommendations included speeding up the Disi project, reducing tax
exemptions, working on reducing the trade balance deficit, giving incentives to
industrial zones to be more competitive, supporting the agriculture sector
through implementing the agriculture strategy, referring government tenders to
local contractors and minimising the country's reliance on fuel as a main source
of energy by encouraging the use of gas.
The government has set a budget of JD3.45 billion for 2006, 43.7 per cent of the
GDP, compared to JD3.33 billion, 40.4 per cent the GDP, in 2005.
Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali announced that deliberations on the budget
would begin next Wednesday.