Jordan's Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft amendment to the Public Debt Law in order to “lift the limit on issuing treasury bills and bonds” in order to pay the Central Bank an extraordinary advance of JD271 million which has accumulated since the grant of that advance in the late 1980s.
In a written response to an inquiry from Lower House Deputy Mahmoud Kharabsheh last week, Minister of Finance Michel Marto said the ministry was studying decreasing the debts of the government to CBJ by paying back all its extraordinary loans, estimated at JD271 million, through the sale of more treasury bills and bonds.
According to Marto, in the late 1980s the government obtained extraordinary loans amounting to JD390 million from the CBJ “to meet the circumstances” of that period. Marto said the government has so far paid JD119 million on those loans, leaving it with a debt balance of JD271 million.
He said the government's ordinary debt in 1997 was estimated at JD215 million all of which was paid back in 1998.
According to Article 9 of the CBJ Law, the bank must transfer its annual net profits to the government, but since 1996, no such transfers were made, Marto said. Prior to 1996 annual CBJ profits that were transferred to the government amounted to between JD20-30 million. — ( Jordan Times )
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
