Amman, Dec. 19 (Petra) -- The Central Bank of Jordan's (CBJ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) enacted a 25 basis point reduction across its monetary policy corridor during its eighth and final meeting of 2024, with implementation scheduled for December 22, 2024.

The monetary easing comes against a backdrop of strong external position metrics, with foreign exchange reserves maintaining robust coverage at USD 21.1 billion, equivalent to 8.4 months of import cover. Core inflation has remained anchored at 1.5% year-to-date through November 2024, reflecting well-managed price stability.

Aggregate deposits expanded by JOD 2.7 billion through October 2024, representing a year-over-year growth rate of 6.1% to JOD 46.0 billion, while credit extension demonstrated positive momentum with a JOD 1.4 billion expansion, translating to 4.1% year-over-year growth and bringing the total loan book to JOD 34.8 billion.

Capital adequacy and liquidity ratios continue to exceed Basel III requirements, underscoring the banking sector's resilient fundamentals.

External account metrics indicate sustained economic resilience, with remittance inflows demonstrating 3.1% year-over-year growth to USD 3.0 billion through October.

Tourism receipts reached USD 6.7 billion year-to-date, with only marginal deterioration of 3.1% year-over-year. Current account dynamics showed improvement with a 5.3% reduction in the trade deficit, supported by robust export performance. The real GDP growth trajectory is projected at 2.4% for FY2024, following 2.2% growth in H1.

The MPC maintains its vigilant monitoring of domestic and external macro-financial developments, ready to deploy appropriate policy tools to maintain monetary and financial stability, which remains paramount for fostering sustainable economic growth.

//Petra// AA

19/12/2024 13:02:11