Khaberni - The Open Market Operations Committee of the Jordan Central Bank held its third meeting of 2026, and decided to fix the "central bank's prime interest rate" at its current level of 5.75%, while keeping the interest rates of various monetary policy instruments unchanged. This decision aligns with the central bank's main goal of maintaining monetary and financial stability in the Kingdom, and aligning the structure of domestic interest rates with the prevailing interest rate levels in regional and international financial markets.
The committee confirms in this regard that the Central Bank will continue its approach in closely monitoring all global and regional economic developments, and its preparedness to take the necessary proactive measures to contribute to enhancing the resilience of the national economy. In this context, a package of precautionary measures launched by the bank at the beginning of April, valued at 760 million dinars, aligns with this approach and is supported by strong monetary and economic indicators; foremost among them are the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves, which amounted to 26.8 billion dollars at the end of March 2026, achieving an increase of 1.3 billion dollars from their level at the end of 2025. These reserves suffice to cover the Kingdom's imports for a duration of 9.4 months, far exceeding the international standard for reserve adequacy by about three times, thus forming a strong safety valve against external shocks.
Alongside this, the dollarization rate witnessed a significant decrease, reaching 18.1% by the end of February 2026, compared with 18.8% for the same period of the previous year, reflecting growing confidence in the national currency and the effectiveness of the monetary policy. The inflation rate recorded low levels at 1.4% during the first quarter of 2026, supporting the competitiveness of the national economy and providing sufficient flexibility to deal with global price fluctuations. These indicators complement the strength of the Jordanian banking sector and its sound performance, as periodic tests have confirmed the banks' ability to continue operating efficiently, with comfortable levels of liquidity, profitability, and capital adequacy.
On the macroeconomic performance level, indicators showed that tourism income registered about 1.65 billion dollars during the first quarter of the current year, and the remittances of Jordanians abroad increased by 12.7% in the first two months to reach 740 million dollars, while national exports grew by 3% to reach 1.9 billion dollars. Direct foreign investment also saw a growth of 25.1% during 2025 to reach about two billion dollars. In light of this, the year 2025 witnessed a gradual improvement in the economic growth rate, which rose to 3% in the last quarter of 2025 compared with 2.6% during the same quarter of 2024, confirming the ability of the Jordanian economy to maintain a sustainable and stable growth path despite all challenges in the regional and global economic environment.
