Category: Affairs

Amman, The government’s Petroleum Derivatives Pricing Committee Monday said it is “freezing” taxes levied on kerosene, bringing kerosene price down from JOD.785 per litre to JOD.620.

The decision comes after His Majesty King Abdullah directed the government during a meeting with community representatives in Aqaba to freeze the kerosene tax to make it more affordable for Jordanian households during the winter as a heating source.

Following the King’s directives, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said his government would “immediately” freeze the tax on kerosene throughout the winter, pledging not to raise the prices even if global prices go up and to lower them if the pieces come down.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Ahmed Hanandeh , said Jordan’s national e- billing system is capable of issuing 60 million invoices per day, noting that it provides various aspects of security and information protection applied in international systems.

In a symposium organized by the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC), on Thursday, Hanandeh said the system is “simple and user-friendly”, adding that all necessary technical checks were carried out to make it “suitable for use without any obstacles.”

For his part, Director General of Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD), Hossam Abu Ali, said all small merchants and craftspeople are not required to use the invoicing system, pointing to the formation of ad hoc teams for all beneficiary sectors, aimed to taking into account their privacy and facilitating networking procedures.

Sectors are granted sufficient time to address any challenges facing companies and taxpayers to align with the new e-billing system, he said, lauding its implementation as a “quantum leap” in the tax reforms applied in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, ACC head, Khalil Haj Tawfiq, said some system-related reservations are made from Jordanian commerce chambers’ leaders, sectors’ representatives, and trade unions chiefs, which requires patience in its implementation and giving beneficiaries a trial period.

To ensure its adequate implementation, he stressed the need to raise awareness about the system’s work mechanism by issuing explanatory leaflets and videos, calling on holding dialogues with stakeholders to in this regard to avoid any adverse outcomes in the future.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Egypt’s east coast Thursday was hit with a magnitude 4.4 quake, according to the Jordan Seismological Observatory.

The director of the observatory, Ghassan Sweidan, said that the earthquake recorded at 5:57 pm occurred at a depth of 15 km.

Sweidan added that the earthquake is considered a medium-strength earthquake.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Washington, Crude prices Thursday dropped 2.5 per cent in the US market to continue their losses for the second day in a row, moving away from their three-week high streak with the continuation of corrections and profit-taking, in addition to demand concerns in the oil market in China, according to the “FX” global economic website.

Preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a decrease in crude inventories in the US for the second week. US crude fell by 2.5 per cent to $ 76.83 a barrel from the opening price of $ 78.78, recording the highest price at $ 78.79. Brent crude declined by 2.3 per cent to $81.90 from the opening price of $83.79 and the highest at $83.82.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, A Royal Decree was issued on Wednesday, approving an amended regulation for the pricing of oil derivatives, the licensee’s commission and its tariff for 2022, which was approved by the Cabinet on December 22, 2022.

Under the amended regulation, Arab Gulf markets were added to the markets of Singapore and the Mediterranean to import oil derivatives to provide marketing flexibility to importing companies in order to obtain the lowest prices, according to the S&P Global Commodity Insights, Platts, a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets.

The S&P Global Commodity Insights used to depend only on Singapore and Mediterranean markets before amending the regulation.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Prices of 21-karat gold, the highest demand at local market, stood at JD36.80 per gramme, as purchasing price, against JD35.30 as selling price, an official said Wednesday.

Jordan Jewelers Association’s Secretary General, Ribhy Allan, told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the price of 24-karat and 18-karat gold amounted to JD42.90 and JD33.10 respectively.

The price of a Rashadi lira, weighing seven grammes, stood at JD251, while an English lira, which weighs eight grammes reached JD296, Allan said.

Allan said that demand for gold in the local market is currently modest.

He added that gold prices in global markets on Friday reached $1810 per ounce.

On Thursday will be the last gold trading sessions in the global market in this year.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Petra Mobile Payment Services, known as Orange Money, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with LivaatVerse, the first Arab Metaverse platform, to officially mark the mobile wallet’s entry to the Metaverse by building its Digital Twin using the LivaatVerse technology and becoming Jordan’s exclusive mobile wallet for financial transactions in LivaatVerse.

Sami Smeirat, Chairman of Orange Money, stressed that this step comes in line with Orange Money’s strategy of adopting the latest technological developments to be a multi-service operator, noting that Orange Money has become the first in the number of open wallets which exceeded 700 thousand, and the highest in volume of transactions, according to data from official sources, and the largest among PSPs in Jordan.

Wilfred Yver, Chief Digital, Data, Innovation and Money Officer at Orange Jordan, said that Orange Moneys’ milestones in a record period reflect Orange Jordan’s continuous efforts to remain at the forefront of digital transformation and embody its firm belief in the role of Orange Money as an integrated digital solution that facilitates fast, safe financial transactions in Jordan.

Hiba Al Shareef, General Manager of Orange Money, stated that that the company will carry on to be a pioneer in enriching the mobile payments sector, noting that the new step is aligned with the Orange Moneys’ leaps and strategic vision to be the first mobile wallet provider, and among the first international pioneers, to step into the Metaverse and offer digital payment solutions on its platforms.

Walid Hamdan, CEO and partner of Ultra Brains Investment & Trading (UBITC) Group, asserted that, through this step, Orange Money will play an integral role in developing the infrastructure for the mobile payments sector towards a smart and sustainable future, in line with rapid developments. Payment gateways will be established for all sectors soon based on simulation technology of reality, to ensure a safer environment and increase the number of people carrying out online digital payments in LivaatVerse, he added.

For his part, Mohamed Ismail, co-founder of UBIT and owner and developer of LivaatVerse, said: “Orange Money’s presence in LivaatVerst will be the support that companies in all sectors need to keep abreast of the latest and most advanced technological breakthroughs and utilize these breakthroughs to build fast and sustainable communication and interaction means, supported by virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence technologies, to facilitate the work of providers in this sector.

LivaatVerse was created to be a real metaverse that aims to serve the community. The developer has come a long way in building the infrastructure for the Metaverse, comprising integrated units supporting and managing this virtual world, which Orange Money will be a part of, under the agreement.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The Ministry of Economy of the Taliban government Saturday issued a decree barring Afghan women from working in local and international NGOs after “complaints” about their non-compliance with the imposed dress code.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Ministry responsible for approving licenses for NGOs in Afghanistan said in a letter, “Serious complaints have been received regarding non-compliance with the Islamic headscarf and other rules and regulations related to women’s work in local and international organisations.”

A spokesman for the Ministry confirmed that the Ministry said in its letter to the NGOs that “in the event of neglecting the directive, the organisation’s license will be revoked.”

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Jordan has continued a broad-based recovery amid a challenging external environment, thanks to the authorities’ effective policy response, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday.

While the IMF Executive Board completed the fifth review of Jordan’s program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), it said that policies should remain focused on maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability, protecting the vulnerable, and advancing reforms to boost employment, growth, and competitiveness, the IMF said in a statement.

The completion of the review will make the equivalent of SDR 257.325 million (about $343 million) immediately available.

This brings total IMF disbursements to Jordan since the start of 2020 to SDR 1,276.247 million (about US$1.699 billion) including a purchase of SDR 291.55 million (about US$407 million) in May 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument.

Jordan’s four-year extended arrangement amounting to the equivalent of SDR 926.37 million (about US$1.293 billion, equivalent to 270 percent of Jordan’s quota in the IMF), was approved by the IMF’s Board on March 25, 2020 and was augmented on June 30, 2021 to the equivalent of SDR 1070.47 (about $1.494 billion, equivalent to 312 percent of Jordan’s quota in the IMF).

According to the statement, stepped up donor support is crucial to help Jordan navigate the adverse exogenous shocks from elevated commodity prices and tightening global financial conditions, as it continues to shoulder the burden of hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

Source: Jordan News Agency

He noted that the planned gradual fiscal consolidation, along with efforts to improve public investment management and monitoring of fiscal risks, will continue to support debt sustainability.

“Monetary policy is appropriately anchored in safeguarding the peg. The financial sector remains healthy, and the Central Bank of Jordan continues to closely monitor banks’ asset quality. Subsidized lending schemes should become more targeted and be gradually phased out as the recovery entrenches,” Okamura explained.

To further enhance the AML/CFT regime, Okamura said, the authorities are committed to implementing the remaining items in the action plan to exit the FATF’s watch list.

The IMF official underlined that electricity and water sector reforms are critical for preserving the sustainability of public finances.

“Timely implementation of the action plan prepared in consultation with development partners is key to credibly reduce NEPCO’s deficits. Strong policy efforts are also needed to address water scarcity and the persistent losses and arrears of the water sector. To this end, the recent adoption of the financial sustainability roadmap for the water sector is welcome,” Okamura added.

“Achieving strong and inclusive growth rests on steady progress on structural reforms to support female labor force participation, enhance youth employment and labor market flexibility, promote competition, reduce the costs of doing business, and strengthen governance and transparency,” Okamura concluded.

Source: Jordan News Agen