Amman, June 18 (Petra) — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) maintained
its benchmark policy rate at 5.75 percent on Thursday, leaving all
other monetary policy rates unchanged following an assessment of
domestic and global economic and financial conditions.

The decision, taken during the Open Market Operations Committee’s
fourth meeting of 2026, reflects the CBJ’s continued focus on
preserving monetary stability while maintaining alignment between
domestic interest rates and prevailing regional and international
market conditions.

The committee reaffirmed that it will continue to closely monitor
regional and global economic and monetary developments and stands
ready to adopt any measures necessary to safeguard monetary
stability.

It also highlighted the JD760 million package of pre-emptive measures
introduced by the Central Bank in April, noting that the
interventions have enhanced the resilience of the Jordanian economy
in the face of external challenges.

The committee said the latest data point to the continued strength of
Jordan’s monetary fundamentals, led by foreign exchange reserves,
which reached $27.2 billion at the end of May 2026, an increase of
$1.7 billion compared with the end of 2025.

The reserve position provides import cover equivalent to 9.5 months
of the Kingdom’s goods and services imports, reinforcing external
sector stability.

Inflationary pressures also remained subdued, with the consumer price
index rising by 1.88 percent during the first five months of 2026,
compared with 1.97 percent during the corresponding period of 2025.

The committee further noted that the Jordanian banking sector
continues to demonstrate solid liquidity buffers, strong
profitability and comfortable capital adequacy ratios, underscoring
the sector’s financial soundness.

External sector indicators also showed positive momentum, with
remittances from Jordanians working abroad increasing by 13.3 percent
during the first four months of 2026 to reach $1.6 billion.

National exports expanded by 1.6 percent year-on-year to $3 billion
during the first quarter of the year, reflecting continued resilience
in external demand.

Tourism receipts, however, declined by 9.2 percent to approximately
$2.8 billion during the first five months of 2026, primarily due to
the impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict on regional travel activity.

//Petra// RZ