Jordan's trade deficit rose by approximately 40 percent in the first two months of 2004, reaching 338 million Jordanian dinars ($477 million), reported Jordan Investment & Finance Bank.
According to the bank, economists attribute the trade deficit increase to the cancellation of a former trade protocol with Iraq which allowed Jordan to import oil at subsidized prices.
Jordan’s main trading partners over the last decade were Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Approximately 74 percent of Jordan’s total exports headed for Arab markets over the past 10 years, with imports from those markets representing 84 percent of the total. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
