AMMAN — The Jordan Investor Confidence Index, released by the Jordan Strategy Forum, increased by 1.7 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, rising to 173.6 points from 170.7 points in the previous quarter.

Despite the overall improvement, the economic activity sub-index declined, falling to 161.8 points in Q3 2024 from 167.3 points in Q2, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Real GDP growth slowed slightly to 2.6 per cent in Q3 2024, compared to 2.7 per cent in Q3 2023 and 2.4 per cent in Q2 2024.

The national budget deficit after grants increased to JD695.2 million in Q3 2024, up from JD647.6 million in the same quarter of 2023 and JD342.8 million in Q2 2024.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows amounted to JD301 million in the Q3 2024.

The findings also revealed that the industrial production index increased to 90.6 points in Q3 2024, up from 87.1 points in Q2.

The monetary system confidence index remained "strong" at 200 points, maintaining its positive momentum for the third consecutive quarter.

Foreign exchange reserves at the Central Bank of Jordan increased to JD14.35 billion in Q3 2024, up from JD13.28 billion in Q2 2024, while the interest rate differential between the Jordanian dinar and the US dollar narrowed to 2.07 per cent in Q3 2024 from 2.17 per cent in Q2.

The forum said that the value of bounced cheques increased by 7.3 per cent from JD362.6 million in Q2 to JD389.3 million in Q3 2024. Meanwhile, confidence in the financial system surged, where the Financial System Confidence Index rose from 148.3 points in Q2 to 159.1 points in Q3.

In the banking sector, credit to the private sector grew by 2.2 per cent to JD31.42 billion in Q3 2024.

The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) index fell by 18.2 points to 4,316.5 in Q3.

Foreign investor activity on the ASE also slowed, with the ratio of shares bought to shares sold falling to 75.1 per cent in Q3 2024, down from 105 per cent in the previous quarter.

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