| Author: Seijaparova, Dinara van Holst Pellekaan, Jack W. |
| Year published: 2004 |
| Research focus: Poverty Reduction, Development |
| Keywords: Poverty Reduction, World Bank, Jordan |
| Abstract: The World Bank ' s assistance to Jordan in the 1990s coincided with a period of considerable political and economic turmoil. Three important exogenous factors affected the Kingdom ' s economic and social development. The first was the oil crisis in the early 1990s that, despite obtaining about half of its imports on concessional terms, still increased the average price of Jordan ' s oil imports because it is one of the few Middle East countries that does not produce oil. The second was the 1991 Gulf War that completely disrupted normal trade between Jordan and Iraq, Jordan ' s traditional trading partner. In addition, most Jordanians employed in the Middle East and elsewhere lost their jobs and were forced to return to Jordan. The third was the 1999 Israeli/Palestinian conflict that disrupted normal trade and movement of people to and from the West Bank and directly affected many Palestinians who live in Jordan. These events provide the backdrop for this evaluation of the World Bank ' s program in assisting Jordan to reduce poverty and improve health and education services during the nineties and in 2000/2001. |
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