Gulf News: Jordan's quarterly growth falls to 3.2%

Amman: Jordan's economic growth rate eased to an annual 3.2 per cent in the first quarter from 4.1 per cent in the last three months of 2008 as mining and services contracted.

Mining and quarrying shrank 12 per cent, compared with 14.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2008. Finance, insurance and real estate contracted 1.2 per cent, compared with an expansion of 1.6 per cent in the previous three months, the Amman-based Department of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement. The kingdom's economy grew 7.9 per cent last year, revised from 5.6 per cent, the government agency said.

Economic growth may ease to four per cent this year as the global economic slowdown leads to less investment from the Arabian Gulf states, which account for 70 per cent of foreign cash, Finance Minister Bassem Salem said on April 20. (more)