Tuesday, May 4, 2004
New specialised quarterly bulletin puts Kingdom's total public debt at JD6.97b
External debt totalled JD5,296 million
and the internal debt reached JD1,679 million as of March 31,2004
AMMAN (JT) — The Ministry of Finance began issuing a quarterly
specialised bulletin which provides detailed information about the
Kingdom's internal and external debt, Finance Minister Mohammad Abu
Hammour announced on Monday.
At the end of last March, the Kingdom's total public debt stood at JD6,975 million, representing 92.4 per cent of the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) for 2004. The external debt totalled JD5,296 million and the internal debt reached JD1,679 million, the bulletin indicated.
External debt servicing at the end of this year's first quarter amounted to JD170.8 million of which around JD139.9 million were in principal payments and JD30.9 million were in interest payments.
Through its different graphs, the bulletin reveals several positive indicators in relation to the country's public debt.
It shows that a 56 per cent portion of the public debt is at fixed interest rate. Interest of two per cent or less covers 37.6 per cent of the total debt whereas 30 per cent carries an interest of 2- 4 per cent. Around 20 per cent bear an interest of 4-6 per cent, Abu Hammour pointed out noting that interest higher than six per cent affects only 12.6 per cent of the debt.
At 29 per cent, the external debt in the US dollar represents the largest portion of the public debt while debts in the Japanese yen account for around 22.6 per cent. External debt in the euro represents another 20 per cent.
According to the bulletin, bilateral and export dues to industrial states is slightly more than 30 per cent for each country whereas the loans to international institutions represent 31.3 per cent.
In addition, the data included in the quarterly bulletin point to a drop in the weighted average interest rate on treasury bills, reaching 2.05 per cent on the issuance of December 2003 from 2.85 per cent on the treasury bills issued in February 2003.
The weighted average interest rate on treasury bonds saw a similar drop, to 4.58 per cent from 4.85 per cent, according to the bulletin figures.
Since 1998, the Finance Ministry has been issuing a financial bulletin, including the latest developments in this regard.
The minister described the new March 2004 bulletin, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, as unique in terms of the high quality of production and the data and information it contains in various forms that allow easy comparisons.
“This bulletin, available also on the ministry's website, is a continuation to the policy of transparency followed by the Ministry of Finance,” the minister concluded.