The ABJ, in coordination and cooperation with the Central Bank of Jordan, held a consultative meeting on Monday, September 18, to discuss the draft instructions for classifying credit exposures and calculating impairment provisions. The meeting was attended by the Executive Director of the Banking Supervision Department at the Central Bank of Jordan and representatives from the department, as well as representatives from the member banks across various relevant departments.

The meeting was opened by Dr. Maher Mahrouq, Director General of the ABJ, who welcomed the attendees from the Central Bank of Jordan and the member banks. Al-Mahrouq thanked the Central Bank of Jordan and its Banking Supervision Department, represented by its Executive Director Mr. Hussein Al Koufahi, for their cooperation and prompt response to the association’s request to hold the meeting.

Al-Mahrouq explained that the meeting was convened in response to numerous comments and queries from banks regarding the draft instructions for classifying credit exposures and calculating impairment provisions. The aim of the meeting was to discuss and review the draft instructions, answer any queries from the banks, and provide sufficient clarifications, helping the banks to finalize their comments on the project.

Mr. Hussein Al Koufahi affirmed that the project was primarily aimed at ensuring Jordan’s compliance with Basel Committee decisions, especially since the current instructions, dating back to 2009, needed to be updated. He emphasized that these instructions are regulatory requirements, not accounting ones, and are primarily intended to protect the banking sector and maintain its robustness.

During the meeting, the banks’ comments and suggestions on the instructions were heard, and their queries about the mechanism for applying various clauses in the draft instructions were addressed.