Held at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum: Jordan Economic Observatory Addresses "Minimum Wage and Rising Expenses" Team Results

23 Dec 2013   AMMAN-------23 December 2013--------The Jordan Economic Observatory organized a roundtable held at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum to discuss the results of report prepared by the "Minimum Wage and Rising Expenses" team.
 
The roundtable was headed by Their Excellencies Dr. Mohammed Abu Humour and Mr. Adnan Abu Al-Ragheb with the participation of members of the Economic Policy Development Forum and specialists in this field. 
 
Mr. Fahmy Katot, team leader presented a comprehensive presentation of the report's contents which included a detailed explanation of labor force, foreign labor, and unemployment as well as poverty and domestic expenditure pointing out that a key aspect of economic and social stability is the balance between labor, wages and prices, "these are influenced by the presence of more than one million foreign workers which in turn requires the government's intervention in order to regulate and organize the labor market."
 
He added that unemployment level reached 14% and this is due to the absence of economic development, foreign labor, educational output, labor market etc. which result in widening the circle of poverty.
 
Moreover, the report recommended the necessity of economic constitutional amendments which happens to be the actual key to economic and social growth in addition to the alleviation of poverty and unemployment in addition to the ratification of structural deformations in the national economy and the accomplishment of continuous economic development and economic growth that exceeds growth in population.
 
Furthermore, the report called for the establishment of joint production projects between the public and private sectors throughout the Kingdom. He further encouraged paying extra attention to the agriculture industry in order to ensure food security as well as a comprehensive ratification of the power industry.
 
On a social level, the report has promoted the necessity of further empowering women and increasing their contribution to national economy. It also suggested defining a clear minimum wage and establishing a comprehensive national development plan that addresses financing, training and qualifying those less fortunate segment of the society and their children as well as establishing production projects financed through the aid, development and employment fund. In addition, from the further recommendations provided in the report as a solution to the reasons behind poverty and its aggravation, the report called for a taxation correction that uses progressive taxation which in turn ensures social justice, an increase in share for the health and education industries and the provision of the basic needs for the poor at affordable prices.
 
The recommendations also emphasized the government's role in protecting employees from monopoly and exploitation, putting forward a clear policy for the regulation of the labor market and the development of the civil society, environment, human rights and institutions of people  with special needs.
 
The report further emphasized the contribution of organizations in the social responsibility as well as linking education to economic development with special focus on electronic education.
 
The "Minimum Wage and Rising Expenses team" includes Mr. Fahmi Al-Katot, team leader, Dr. Hisham Gharaybeh, Dr. Ibrahim Hijazin and Dr. Hanan Al-Halsa.
 
It is worth mentioning that the Jordan Economic Observatory is one of the initiatives of the Economic Policies Development Forum and is functioning in a continuous institutional manner, an unbiased entity that aims at professionally monitoring government performance, functioning in a transparent, clear and cooperative manner with all parties and includes specialists that aim at studying economic policies in accordance with clear standards and criteria.
 
The Observatory aims to prepare reports that address the development of Jordanian economic policies in both the private and public sectors, providing economic consultancy and economic advice and guidance in both the public and private sectors, evaluating costs against benefits, conducting economic studies, analyzing general policies including taxation, financing of government programs, providing advice regarding development strategies, managing financial and monetary issues as well as evaluating the competitive abilities and revising the performance of the public sector.