AMMAN, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) will increase the interest rates on its various monetary policy instruments by 25 basis points on Oct. 1.
The decision comes in light of the monetary developments at the regional and international levels, seeking to enhance the monetary and fiscal stability in Jordan, Jordanian News Agency Petra quoted the bank's statement as saying on Sunday.
The bank decided to keep constantly the refinancing rates at its prior levels of 1.75 percent for projects located in Amman governorate and 1 percent for projects located in other governorates.
Jordan increased the interest rate by 25 basis points in March this year.
The central bank's decision comes a few days after the Federal Reserve raised U.S. short-term interest rates for a third time this year and signalled it will forge ahead with plans to tighten policy.
The government of Prime Minister Omar Razzaz endorsed a new income tax draft bill last week that seeks to generate 280 million dinars (about 395 million U.S. dollars) in additional revenues in 2019 to help offset budget deficit.
The budget deficit during the first seven months of 2018, after grants, amounted to 659.7 million dinars compared to a deficit of 539.7 million dinars during the same period of 2017.
The gross public debt at the end of July 2018 was 28.118 billion dinars, or 96.1 percent of the estimated GDP at the end of July 2018, compared to 27.269 billion or 95.9 percent of GDP at the end of 2017, according to figures by the Ministry of Finance.
