:Jordan Government
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Hussein A. HAMMAMI; Chancery at 3504 International Drive NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 966-2664
US:
Ambassador Roger Gram HARRISON; Embassy on Jebel Amman, Amman (mailing
address is P. O. Box 354, Amman, or APO AE 09892); telephone [962] (6)
644-371
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of black (top), white, and green with a red
isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a small white
seven-pointed star; the seven points on the star represent the seven
fundamental laws of the Koran
:Jordan Economy
Overview:
Jordan benefited from increased Arab aid during the oil boom of the late
1970s and early 1980s, when its annual GNP growth averaged more than 10%. In
the remainder of the 1980s, however, reductions in both Arab aid and worker
remittances slowed economic growth to an average of roughly 2% per year.
Imports - mainly oil, capital goods, consumer durables, and food - have been
outstripping exports, with the difference covered by aid, remittances, and
borrowing. In mid-1989, the Jordanian Government began debt-rescheduling
negotiations and agreed to implement an IMF program designed to gradually
reduce the budget deficit and implement badly needed structural reforms. The
Persian Gulf crisis that began in August 1990, however, aggravated Jordan's
already serious economic problems, forcing the government to shelve the IMF
program, stop most debt payments, and suspend rescheduling negotiations. Aid
from Gulf Arab states and worker remittances have plunged, and refugees have
flooded the country, straining government resources. Economic recovery is
unlikely without substantial foreign aid, debt relief, and economic reform.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $3.6 billion, per capita $1,100; real growth rate
3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
40% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $1.7 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
$1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
phosphates, fertilizers, potash, agricultural products, manufactures
partners:
India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, UAE, China
Imports:
$2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, food, live animals, manufactured
goods
partners:
EC, US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey
External debt:
$9 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 1% (1991 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP
Electricity:
1,025,000 kW capacity; 3,900 million kWh produced, 1,150 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
phosphate mining, petroleum refining, cement, potash, light manufacturing
Agriculture:
accounts for about 7% of GDP; principal products are wheat, barley, citrus
fruit, tomatoes, melons, olives; livestock - sheep, goats, poultry; large
net importer of food
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.7 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.5 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $9.5 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $44
million
Currency:
Jordanian dinar (plural - dinars); 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils
:Jordan Economy
Exchange rates:
Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1 - 0.6861 (March 1992), 0.6807 1991), 0.6636
(1990), 0.5704 (1989), 0.3709 (1988), 0.3387 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Jordan Communications
Railroads:
619 km 1.050-meter gauge, single track
Highways:
7,500 km; 5,500 km asphalt, 2,000 km gravel and crushed stone
Pipelines:
crude oil 209 km
Ports:
Al `Aqabah
Merchant marine:
2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 60,378 GRT/113,557 DWT; includes 1
cargo and 1 petroleum tanker
Civil air:
23 major transport aircraft
Airports:
19 total, 15 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over
3,659 m; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
adequate telephone system of microwave, cable, and radio links; 81,500
telephones; broadcast stations - 5 AM, 7 FM, 8 TV; satellite earth stations
- 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT, 1 domestic
TV receive-only; coaxial cable and microwave to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and
Syria; microwave link to Lebanon is inactive; participates in a microwave
network linking Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
:Jordan Defense Forces
Branches:
Jordan Arab Army, Royal Jordanian Air Force, Royal Jordanian Navy, Public
Security Force
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 808,725; 576,934 fit for military service; 39,310 reach
military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $404 million, 9.5% of GDP (1990)