On Tuesday, 21/03/2023, ABJ held the regular meeting of the General Assembly via video communication technology (ZOOM), chaired by ABJ Chairman, Bassem Khalil Al-Salem, in the presence of all banks operating in the Kingdom.

The General Assembly discussed the Board of Directors report on the Assembly’s work for the year 2022 and its audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending on 12/31/2022. The Assembly approved the final accounts and approved the auditors’ report and approved the estimated budget for the Assembly for the fiscal year 2023.

Al-Salem expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the banks’ managements to enable the Association serve banks and help them meet their goals. The Chairman thanked the banks represented by their boards of directors, executive departments and employees for their quick response, interaction and continuous cooperation with the association. Al-Salem also thanked the Central Bank of Jordan for its quick response, effective communication, and full and continuous support to ABJ. He also thanked all ABJ employees for their efforts throughout the year in serving the banking sector and in achieving the goals of the association.

Al-Salem said that the Jordanian economy grew by 2.7% during the first three quarters of 2022, which is the same expected growth rate for the entire year, according to the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance estimates. He added that the inflation rate reached 4.23%, and the unemployment rate decreased to 22.9% in 2022.

Al-Salem indicated that public finance indicators showed an increase in the general budget deficit after grants by 38.7% during the first ten months of 2022 constituting 6.3% of GDP. The total public debt, including the debt carried by the Social Security Funds Investment Fund, increased by 5.7%, to constitute 110.8% of the GDP. As for the performance of the external sector, ABJ Chairman indicated an increase in total exports by 35.2%, an increase in imports by 30.4%, and an increase in the trade balance deficit by 26.8% in the first eleven months of 2022. As for monetary and banking indicators, Al-Salem confirmed that they recorded Clear growth in various levels, including growth in assets by 5.1%, growth in credit facilities by 8.5% and growth in total deposits by 6.5% in 2022.

The association’s forty-fourth annual report was presented during the meeting which included a presentation of economic developments at the global and local level in 2022 and monetary and banking developments in Jordan, including developments in interest rates on monetary policy tools and banking developments in 2022. The report also included a summary of the most prominent activities and achievements of the association in 2022, the financial statements and the auditor’s 2022 report.