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Jordan The 1986-90 Five-Year Plan
In early 1989, it was not feasible to make a comprehensive
assessment of Jordan's progress toward accomplishing the goals of
its 1986-90 Five-Year Plan. In the past, development goals had been
ambitious but progress was modest. For example, several important
goals of the 1980-85 plan were not met: planned GDP growth was 11
percent per year, but actual growth was about 4 percent; planned
investment growth was about 12 percent per year, but actual
investment growth was less than 1 percent; and planned growth in
export of goods and services was 21 percent per year, but actual
growth was 3.4 percent.
Total investment spending under the 1986-90 Five-Year Plan was
targeted at JD3.2 billion, of which the government was to
contribute JD1.8 billion and the private and mixed sectors JD1.4
billion. National savings were to provide about 36 percent of the
plan's financing, transfer payments such as aid and remittances
were to finance about 37 percent, and external borrowing was to
finance about 26 percent. The plan listed seven broad goals in
order of priority assigned by the government. The foremost goal was
to attain and sustain a 5 percent rate of GDP growth and to
increase real per capita GDP by 1.3 percent per year. The second
goal was to cap unemployment through the creation of more than
200,000 new jobs, of which almost 100,000 would be created through
investment-led economic growth. The remainder were to be created
through the eviction of foreign guest workers and the emigration of
Jordanian labor. The third goal was to keep growth in public and
private consumption below GDP growth so that by 1990 consumption
would equal production. The fourth goal was to increase
domestically generated government revenue to eliminate deficit
spending. The fifth goal was to reduce, but not eliminate, the
goods and services trade deficit. The sixth goal was to strengthen
inter-Arab economic cooperation through the establishment of
international joint ventures and the reduction of trade barriers.
Finally, the plan called for more equitable distribution throughout
the country of the benefits of development.
The plan also listed growth targets for the various economic
sectors, including 46 percent real increases in agricultural income
and mining income and a 40 percent real increase in manufacturing
income over the five-year period. The plan envisioned a 23 percent
real increase in service sector income over the same period.
Because the goods-producing sectors were to grow faster than the
service sector, the latter's contribution to GDP would be reduced
to about 61 percent.
Data as of December 1989
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