Jordan's foreign debt shrank by one percent in November 2001 to $6.9 billion from seven billion the same month last year, the finance ministry said Sunday, December 8. Foreign debt still represents 80 percent of the kingdom's gross domestic product, it said. The ministry said the slight drop could be accounted for by the exchange rates of the yen and European currencies against the dollar, as well as by some countries' continued conversion of foreign debt into investment.
Jordan's foreign debt stood at eight billion dollars in 1998. Following a call by the Paris club in 1999, part of Jordan's debt was rescheduled or converted by several of its main creditors, which include Japan, France, Germany and Britain — (AFP, Amman)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
