Although it has been spared the popular uprisings that have rocked other Arab nations, cash-strapped Jordan is facing high unemployment as it struggles to define its economic policy.
The dismissal of liberal Central Bank governor Fares Sharaf last week over accusations that he took “unilateral” decisions and publicly opposed the government highlights a floundering economic policy.
“It’s not the first time the government has sacked an official for his or her opinion in economic policies,” former economy minister Samer Tawil said.
“There is no agreement on economic policies and the political regime is incapable of developing an implementable national economic model.”
Jordan is one of the lower middle income nations, where gross national income per capita is estimated at between $766 and $3,035, according to the World Bank.
“One of the problems is that some want to implement International Monetary Fund programmes without taking into consideration Jordan’s peculiarities, while conservatives oppose these plans without providing local alternatives,” Tawil said. Officially, unemployment is about 14 per cent in the country of nearly 6.5 million people, 70 per cent of them under the age of 30. Other estimates, mostly from non-government organisations, put unemployment at 30 per cent, however.
“Government ministers are divided. Some of them say we need to maintain subsidies and consider Arab spring developments, while others think the budget cannot handle this,” said Jawad Anani, another former economy minister.
Last week, Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit accused Mr Sharaf of “not believing in government policies and inciting the public against them.”
“He does not believe in small businesses and projects and opposes a social market economy,” Mr Bakhit said.
“Because he is liberal, he strongly supports free market policies, demands that the government raise prices and publicly opposes its approach at political salons. He cannot deny that,” the Premier added, charging that Mr Sharaf “takes unilateral decisions”.
“That is why he had to go, in order to save the Central Bank from such decisions,” he said.
But Sharaf denied the allegations, insisting that he has never called for raising prices.
“Eighty per cent of government subsidies on certain products and services benefit the rich and those who do not deserve it,” Mr Sharaf said.
“No one has the right to categorise Jordanians as liberals and non-liberals. I do not know the real reason behind the government’s decision to sack me.”
Newspaper columnists linked Sharaf’s dismissal to his decision to take to court a businessman accused of trying to launder $100 million.