Day: December 20, 2021

Pakistani ambassador to Jordan, Sajjad Ali Khan, said Monday that the trade volume between his country and Jordan was short of expectations at $50 million, but efforts are stepped up to further boost relations in a host of sectors.

He told Petra in an interview that efforts are underway to promote tourism exchange, noting the cultural, archaeological and religious landmarks and the moderate weather in both countries. However, he added, there is no direct air travel route between the two countries to serve tourism.

The envoy stressed the deep-rooted relations in the various political, military, scientific, social, cultural, economic fields and the development they witnessed.

As part of cultural ties, he said that 10,000 Jordanians are members of the Pakistani universities alumni, noting that hundreds of Jordanian students are currently studying in Pakistan, forming a bridge between the two countries. He said Pakistan allocated 35 annual scholarships for Jordanian students and the Kingdom grants 5 for Pakistanis.

He lauded the efforts of both Jordan and Pakistan to highlight the true image of Islam as a faith of tolerance and moderation.

On regional conflicts, the ambassador stressed the importance of achieving Palestinian statehood and finding a solution to the issue of Kashmir in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The unemployment rate inched down by 1.6 per cent to 23.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, compared with the second quarter of the same year, and dropped 0.7 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS) quarterly report.

It showed that the unemployment rate among males reached 21.2 per cent against 30.8 per cent for females, as the male rate remained the same and female rate rose by 2.8 per cent, compared to the third quarter of 2020.

In the third quarter of 2021, male and female unemployment both dropped by 1.5 and 2.3 per cent respectively, compared with the second quarter of the same year.

Also, unemployment surged among university degree holders (calculated by dividing the number of unemployed individuals holding a bachelor’s degree and higher by the number of unemployed persons holding the same qualification), reaching 27.8 per cent, compared to other educational levels.

The figures indicated that 56.2 per cent of the total unemployed were holders of secondary school certificates or higher, and that 43.8 per cent of the total unemployed had educational qualifications below high school.

At the governorate level, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in Tafileh Governorate, at 29 per cent, while the lowest unemployment rate was in Madaba Governorate, at 20.3 per cent.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The prices of oil derivatives in global markets were higher in the third week of December than second week average, according to Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources data.

90-octane gasoline price was $733 per ton, compared to second week average price of $719.2, an increase of 1.9% and 95-octane gas was sold at $758.3 per ton, compared to $743.8 per ton in the second week, rising 1.9%, according to the ministry.

Diesel price rose from $637.4 per ton to $644, an increase of 1%, and kerosene was up from $663.2 per ton to $672.1, or 1.3%, while the price of fuel oil rose from $403.4 per ton to $413.2 per ton, about 2.4%, it said.

On the other hand, the price of liquefied petroleum gas dropped in December to $761.3 per ton, compared to the November price of $838.5, down 9.2%, it said.

Benchmark Brent crude was sold at $73.7 per barrel in the third week of the month, compared to $74.7 in the second week of this month, the figures showed.

Source: Jordan News Agency