Jordan Times
Sunday, September 5, 2004
GDP up by 7.2%
AMMAN (Petra) — Convertible industries stood as the main drive behind a 7.2 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) at fixed prices in the first half of this year, Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah indicated Saturday upon revealing preliminary data of national accounts.
According to the minister, the economic expansion achieved, compared with a 2.8 per cent growth during the first six months of last year.
At current prices, the GDP growth came at 12.4 per cent during the January-June period of 2004 compared to 4.5 per cent in the same period of 2003.
He also pointed out that the inflation rate stood during the first half of 2004 at 4.9 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent during the same period last year.
Awadallah highlighted the sector of convertible industries for expanding by 14 per cent in fixed prices compared to a 3.3 per cent rise in the six months of last year.
Besides the 2.1 per cent contribution to the GDP from the manufacturing industries, the midyear growth was also driven by the sectors of transport and telecommunications (2.0 per cent), construction (0.8 per cent), wholesale, retail trade, restaurants and hotels (0.6 per cent), electricity and water (0.4 per cent) in addition to the net taxes on products (0.8 per cent).
“These sectors brought the total to 6.7 per cent or 98.1 per cent of the average growth achieved,” the minister said.
Awadallah described the figures as a confirmation of the country's economic recovery from the effects of regional instability and the repercussions of the war on Iraq.
He even expected better economic performance during the second half of the year as the country continues to weather the effects of the turbulence in Iraq, keeps up the growth of exports, and bolsters its manufacturing industries in addition to the government's implementation of various projects.
The planning minister indicated that during the second quarter of this year, the growth rate reached 7.6 per cent compared to a growth of 2.9 per cent during the same quarter last year.
As the deflated GDP rose by 6.0 per cent during the second quarter of 2004 compared to 1.8 per cent during the same period of the previous year, the country's growth would be 14 per cent in current prices compared to a growth by 4.7 per cent during the same quarter last year.
In addition, the planning minister explained that the real growth of 6.9 per cent recorded in the second quarter of the current year was higher than that achieved during the first quarter of the of last year and higher than that achieved during the second quarter of the year 1995 which witnessed a real growth of 9.2 per cent.