By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) -Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh reshuffled his cabinet on Thursday to improve his administration’s performance under IMF-guided economic reforms crucial to tackling the country’s economic and social problems.
The British-educated former veteran diplomat and palace aide was appointed two years ago to restore public trust over the handling of COVID-19 and defuse anger at successive governments’ failure to halt corruption and deliver prosperity.
The finance, foreign and interior ministers were kept in place in the reshuffle, which changed nearly a third of cabinet ministers overall. Of 11 new ministers, three are women.
Khasawneh has sought to accelerate reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help the oil importing country reverse a decade of sluggish growth hovering at around 2% that was worsened by the pandemic and conflict in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
“The government has been committed under this programme to move with (IMF-backed) structural reforms that rejuvenate the economy,” he said after a cabinet session.
The government last summer unveiled a plan to attract over $40 billion of investments over the next 10 years. It said it was committed to implementing free market reforms that businessmen say were thwarted under previous conservative administrations.
The traditional conservative establishment had long been blamed for obstructing a modernisation drive pushed by the Western-leaning monarch, fearing liberal reforms will erode their grip on power.
The reappointment of Finance Minister Mohammad al Ississ in the new cabinet underlined the country’s commitment to the nearly $2 billion, four-year IMF-backed programme to improve the country’s public finances and spur growth.
Ississ won praise from the IMF for stepping up reforms and maintaining fiscal prudence while avoiding austerity policies that triggered social unrest in past years.
The country, however, faces growing security challenges along its northern border with Syria, where a spike in drug smuggling blamed on Iranian-backed militias has made the kingdom a major conduit to lucrative Gulf markets.
Jordan, among the closest allies of the United States in the Middle East, hopes to get more donor aid to help mitigate the impact of regional turmoil. Under a deal with Washington, the kingdom is set to receive $1.45 billion in economic and military aid annually from next year until fiscal year 2029.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-KhalidiEditing by William Maclean, Peter Graff and Deepa Babington)
