30 Years on, Has the IMF Helped or Hindered the Jordanian Economy?

Abstract

In spite of the hostile external environment, Jordan has displayed resilience in maintaining internal cohesion in the face of adversity. The combination of the global financial crisis, energy crisis, closure of trade routes resulting to a de facto economic siege, Arab spring regional turmoil, increasing the cost of security, decreases in remittance and the rising oil and food prices have placed substantial pressure on the Jordanian economy and fiscal effort. As a result of the economic crises, Jordan encountered profound macro-economic and structural related issues as well as a severe balance of payments crisis. In the past three decades, Jordan has adopted various reform programs in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in hopes of stabilizing its economy through neo-liberal policies (El-Said, Harrigan, 2009). This paper aims to determine the extent to which IMF programs contributed to Jordan’s economic prosperity in tackling challenges in its macro-economy from 1989 to 2019. The IMF reform programs were supported under several stand-by agreements (SBA’S) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements. This paper would discuss what the overall objectives of the reform programs were and whether they were relevant to Jordan’s circumstances. Whether the IMF policies and processes worked in favour of Jordan’s institutional dealings and if Jordan received preference from the IMF concerning their geopolitical considerations.