Money Business in Jordan after Relieving the State of Emergency

COVID-19 has caused damage to a lot of financial businesses inside Jordan due to the lockdown and other restrictions applied by the Jordanian government to mitigate and address the danger of the pandemic.

When things got more in control and the spread of the disease was limited, the government lifted the state of emergency, while taking precautionary measurements. 

This of course has a great effect on the money business which we will discuss in this article.

What happened when the state of emergency was declared? 

When the state of emergency was declared in Jordan due to the coronavirus pandemic, the policies changed completely because of the imposed lockdown to counter the spread of the virus, which incurred heavy losses for all government and private sectors. 

This prompted the government to take a decision to pump 500 million dinars; equivalent to 700 million USD, into the private sector in order to help poor families and to pay financial arrears. 

The government is trying to mitigate the burdens on the financial business sectors in Jordan such as small projects, as well as supporting workers, migrants, poor families, and supporting the medical sector.

In addition to that, Jordan is taking strict social measures to avoid the spread of the infection among citizens. For example, the imposition of a full curfew to prevent citizens gatherings in the streets and the closure of gathering places, such as cafes, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, etc.

The effects of state of emergency on money businesses

The coronavirus pandemic has caused great losses to many the financial businesses in Jordan, due to the flight ban that was extended to the procedures of closing land and sea borders. The businesses was severely damaged because of restrictions of the curfew and the suspension of all public transportations, the matter that affected stores, factories, carpentry workshops, beauty salons, dry cleaners and more. 

As the virus continues to spread - which recorded a zero case rate for just a short time – there is a difficulty in the flow of goods and services, in addition to an emerging local recession, as well as the effect on the stock market operations.

Nevertheless, the Jordanian government is exerting continuous efforts to overcome the economic difficulties in a manner that commensurates with the challenges of the pandemic spread and the continuation of the state of emergency, since the necessary precautions are taken into consideration before allowing the works to return to their usual first form.

The return of financial businesses in Jordan depends on the success of the appropriate measures imposed by the local authorities, such as quarantine and others based on the extent of the epidemic. 

How things will go after relieving state of emergency restrictions  

Jordan's economic battle during coronavirus crisis can be summarized by the expression of Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Asas, who described it as a "survival battle" in light of the expected economic contraction by 3.4%.

That battle demanded allowing commercial and industrial sectors to be back to work with paying attention to safety and prevention measures to avoid virus spread. 

The multiple dimensions of the crisis - which exceeded all expectations - are make it near impossible to predict the future course of business in Jordan in light of the current conditions. Indeed, the most prominent goal has become the resumption of life in light of strong precautionary measures in order to return to work full powered gradually. 

And there are still many concerns about whether there is another wave of infected cases which means that even countries that have acted relatively quickly in the face of that pandemic are still at risk every time they push urgently their economies to come back strongly again. Jordan itself is a model of success in controlling the virus before the infected cases return again.

Officials in Jordan are studying the experiences of some countries in overcoming the challenges of that pandemic, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, in order to help determine the appropriate time for the return of financial business in Jordan without harming the health of citizens.

Currently, the economic outlook of some experts about opening markets quickly may appear grim, and hopes for the imminent end of that epidemic may be dependent on citizens' awareness and their ability to implement the current state policies to return business very soon.