Country Report Jordan February 2011

Economic performance: Perceptions of Jordan's economy differ

Despite the complaints from protesters over the state of the economy, the government will have welcomed the latest Index of Economic Freedom from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank. The Jordanian economy was ranked as the 38th freest in the world, and 4th out of 17 Middle Eastern countries. It had shown the greatest improvement in the region in 2010. However many of the elements that contributed to this improved rating are precisely those that some Jordanians would highlight as contributing to their tougher economic conditions, including public wage bill containment, capital spending reduction, privatisation, market liberalisation and private-sector development. Jordan scored well on fiscal reform and monetary, trade, labour, investment and business freedom. The area where the report and most Jordanians would agree was the assertion that overall economic freedom is limited by corruption, the category in which Jordan scored lowest, and the judicial system's vulnerability to political influence.

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