Vested interests may block urgent tax reform in Jordan

Significance

It also looked at government-proposed amendments to another law aiming to reduce the scope for tax evasion in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone. Recent developments including the pandemic, an April political crisis between King Abdullah and his half-brother Prince Hamzah and now the Gaza conflict have highlighted popular dissatisfaction driven by economic grievances.

Impacts

• Tourism should start to recover in late 2021, but revenue is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 at the earliest.
• Forecast economic growth of 2-3% over the next four years leaves little scope for improvement in living standards.
• Without a strong economic recovery, the government will struggle to bring down an unemployment rate that has reached 24%.