Jordan News UpdatesLondon, The pound sterling Wednesday rose against the dollar, according to British financial centres.
The pound rose 0.7 per cent at a value of $1.2056. The euro also rose 0.5 per cent against the dollar at $1.0603.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Amman, Ministry of Labor excluded Jordan’s industrial and agricultural sectors and domestic workers from the decision to stop recruitment of expatriate workers.
The ministry continues to stop expat worker recruitment, with exception granted to some sectors, in line with the local market’s manpower needs, its Secretary-General, Farouk Hadidi, said in a press statement on Wednesday.
Hadidi noted the decision to stop expat worker recruitment came to regulate and assess local labor market, address its imbalances due to the presence of unemployed Jordanian workers, whether in professional and vocational areas or university specialties.
He also stressed the need to maintain national workforce training programs in coordination with the private sector, to provide job opportunities in the Jordanian market, and compete with Arab and foreign labor.
On the ministry’s key role in this regard, he said its steps aim to regulate the labor market, set the necessary instructions and take appropriate decisions to find job opportunities to employ Jordanians, in cooperation with the private sector and other concerned stakeholders.
Employment of Jordanians is a priority by activating procedures that curb expat workers recruitment, he said.
Locally, he noted presence of expat workers in a large number caused damage to the organized labor market, decreased job vacancies for Jordanians, and increased unemployment problem, especially in light of the region’s current conditions.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Manama, The prep ministerial committee for the meetings of the Jordanian-Bahraini Higher Committee Wednesday agreed in Manama, Bahrain, on mechanisms to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.
The meeting, chaired by Minister of Trade and Minister of Labour Yousef Shamali and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, is a prep for the Committee’s fifth meeting in Manama on Thursday.
It agreed on the drafts aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation that would be signed after the meetings slated for tomorrow.
Shamali and Alzayani noted the “importance” of raising the level of bilateral relations to progress in various fields and serve common interests.
Shamali said the convening of the Committee meetings is part of the two countries’ efforts to strengthen cooperation and address challenges resulting from the “exceptional” circumstances the world is witnessing and the risks threatening food security and the safety of supply chains.
He noted the “importance” of the industrial partnership between Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt, aimed at enhancing cooperation and industrial integration in “strategic areas.”
In turn, Alzayani said holding meetings at this time “is of great importance” and reflects keenness to advance cooperation and frame the necessary agreements and memos.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The total value of the certificates of origin issued by the Irbid Chamber of Industry (ICI) in 2022 went up by 15.7 percent to reach $1.4 billion, compared to the $1.2 billion reported for 2021.
According to the ICI’s annual report released on Tuesday, the increase was driven mostly by the al-Hassan Industrial Estate’s exports, which were estimated at $1.3 billion, while the remaining exports came from the Cyber City and other industrial zones in the northern governorate.
On the sector level, the textile and leather sector accounted for the lion’s share with $1.3 billion worth of exports, followed by the medical industries and supplies sector with $34 million and the foodstuffs products with $33.9 million, in addition to other sectors.
Head of the ICI Hani Abu Hassan cited recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason behind the increase in exports, indicating that the United States market was the biggest importer, accounting for a value of $1 billion, followed by the European Union countries with exports worth $104 million, and the Arab countries with exports worth $65 million, while the remaining shipments went to the Canadian and Southeast Asian countries’ markets among others.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to freeze the kerosene tax during the winter season to alleviate the burden on citizens, especially those with low income.
Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh underlined the government’s commitment to implementing the royal directive and reducing the price of kerosene if global prices drop.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Ministry of Water and Irrigation said Tuesday that the volume of rainfall so far this season accounted for 35.4 percent of the annual average.
About 1.4 million cubic meters of water entered the dams from rain and runoff from valleys during the past 24 hours, which was concentrated in the Tannur Dam in Tafileh that received about 772,000 cubic meters, raising its storage to 48 million cubic meters, about 17 percent of its total capacity of 280,760 million cubic meters, according to a ministry statement.
The highest precipitation of 4.4 mm was recorded in Qasr Tuba in the Zarqa Governorate over the past 24 hours, it said.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Jordanians working in Qatar sent home a staggering $440 million (JD312 million) in 2022, indicating an increase of 10 percent compared with 2021, according to Qatari money exchangers.
In interviews with the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on Tuesday, they said that remittances by Jordanian expatriates in 2022 may be the highest in several years.
According to data recently released by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), Jordanian expatriates’ remittances in the first ten months of 2022 increased by 0.6%, surpassing $2.829 billion (JD2 billion), while in October alone, they increased by 2.8%, reaching $290.4 million (JD205.9 million) compared to the same month in 2021.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Amman, The government’s Petroleum Derivatives Pricing Committee Monday said it is “freezing” taxes levied on kerosene, bringing kerosene price down from JOD.785 per litre to JOD.620.
The decision comes after His Majesty King Abdullah directed the government during a meeting with community representatives in Aqaba to freeze the kerosene tax to make it more affordable for Jordanian households during the winter as a heating source.
Following the King’s directives, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said his government would “immediately” freeze the tax on kerosene throughout the winter, pledging not to raise the prices even if global prices go up and to lower them if the pieces come down.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Zarqa, The value of re-exports of factories and companies in Zarqa governorate totaled JD183 million in 2022, according to Zarqa Chamber of Commerce chairman Hussein Shreim.
Shreim said in a statement Monday that most of the exports were vehicles, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, furniture, construction material, electronics, garment, and jewelry.
He added that the chamber issued 7,481 certificates of origin last year.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Amman, The prices of 145 food items have dropped and remained stable during the month of December, compared to November, according to Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply statistics.
They showed a decrease in the prices of 14 commodities, mainly fresh chicken by 3 percent and vegetables, including cucumbers and eggplant, by 15-20 percent.
The prices of 131 commodities, including oils, meat, legumes, processed products, sugar, milk and various brands of rice, generally stabilized, the figures revealed, while the prices of 9 items went up, including two brands of rice by 2-5 percent, one brand of sugar 3-7 percent and table eggs 8-9 percent.
The Ministry said it regularly monitors food prices locally and tracks fluctuations in the global market, as well as verify commercial stores’ adherence to the industry and trade law and regulatory legislation.
It said it will continue to study and monitor local commodities’ prices to ensure their stability and continue market inspections to take action against pricing violators, urging the public to report their complaints to the ministry.
Source: Jordan News Agency