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Jordan: Economic Recovery is Projected to Remain Steady in 2022

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Jordan’s economy is projected to grow by 2.1% in 2022, however, rising commodity prices, supply bottlenecks and the impact of the war in Ukraine pose major downside risks to the country’s economic outlook. This projection builds on the relatively strong growth rate of 2.2% registered in 2021 due to the government’s supportive monetary and fiscal policy, along with the gradual reopening of the economy. Yet unemployment, particularly among youth and women, remains at alarming levels and reforms are needed to spur investment to create more and better jobs. 

According to the World Bank’s Spring 2022 edition of the Jordan Economic Monitor (JEM), Global Turbulence Dampens Recovery and Job Creation, Jordan’s economic growth in 2021 has been robust, led by a broad-based expansion of the service and industrial sectors, and an unexpectedly strong rebound in the travel and tourism sector. However, some subsectors, particularly contact-intensive services sector such as restaurants and hotels, still lag pre-pandemic levels.  

The Government resumed its fiscal consolidation path, aided by strong growth in both tax and non-tax revenues. This has also allowed the government to markedly increase capital expenditures in 2021 – a welcome development given the critical role of investment in reviving economic activity and employment. Despite unfavorable changes in global commodity prices and a gradual rise in inflation, consumer prices remained relatively low when compared to other countries in the region.  

The recent economic recovery has, however, not led to strong job creation. Although recovery in the service sector helped alleviate some labor market pressures, Jordan’s total unemployment rate stood at around 23% at the end of 2021, compared to a pre-pandemic level of 19% at the end of 2019. The report finds that high levels of unemployment and informality are mainly due to the limited capacity of the private sector to generate more and better jobs with the economy being dominated by small, low-productivity firms. 

Despite Jordan’s economic rebound, pressing socio-economic challenges, such as high unemployment, especially among the youth and women, remain entrenched,” said Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Mashreq Regional Director. “Going forward, accelerating implementation of investment-enabling reforms will be critical to inject dynamism in the economy and activate the private sector as an engine of job creation.” 

The JEM presents four recommendations to encourage investment and to help Jordan to better manage uncertain times: 1) Intensify microeconomic reforms to encourage private sector development; 2) Implement reforms to address unemployment, particularly for the youth and women; 3) Transition to a post-crisis macroeconomic policy framework that ensures signals on investment and prices are adequate; and 4) Revamp Jordan’s debt financing strategy to sustain public investments in infrastructure and to develop Jordan’s  human capital. 

The JEM Special Focus Section titled “Creating more and better Jobs in Jordan” presents key structural challenges in the Jordanian labor market as well necessary reforms required to overcome them. The pandemic has led to fewer job opportunities for the youth, who makes up around one fifth of Jordan’s total working age population. As of end 2021, official statistics indicated that more than half of the country’s youth is unemployed, with a higher percentage among young female workers. A striking gender divide also continues to characterize the Jordanian labor market with the female labor force participation rate almost 40 percentage points lower than that of males, ranking among the lowest in the world. 

Several factors contribute to high female unemployment including workplace conditions that are not family-friendly, limited financial inclusion of women, lack of access to reliable and safe public transport, and social norms,” said Saadia Refaqat, World Bank Senior Country Economist. “More economic opportunities for females can be created by lifting these constraints, such as the removal of legal restrictions around getting a job, expanding access to quality childcare and increasing women’s financial inclusion.” 

The report outlines recommendations to remove obstacles to Jordan’s private sector dynamism and create more and better jobs, through reforms that increase market contestability, reduce entry barriers and improve supporting infrastructures for businesses. These policies need to be accompanied by efforts to improve the skills of the workforce, address the skills mismatch and prioritize 21st century skills and competences.  

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Common statistics homework problems and how to solve them

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Statistics is a branch of mathematics that deals with collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. Statistics homework problems can be challenging for many students, especially if they lack the necessary skills and concepts. That is the reason why many choose to get statistics help for students. It seems like a more effective way of dealing with an issue at hand. However, there are some common types of statistics problems that can be solved using some basic steps and strategies.

Statistic help for students: examples of problems and solutions

Example 1: Finding the mean and median of a data set

The mean and median are two measures of central tendency that describe the average or typical value of a data set. The mean is calculated by adding up all the values in the data set and dividing by the number of values. The median is the middle value of the data set when it is arranged in ascending or descending order. If there is an even number of values, the median is the average of the middle two values.

To find the mean and median of a data set, we can follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Arrange the data in ascending or descending order (optional for finding the mean, but necessary for finding the median).
  • Step 2: Add up all the values in the data set and divide by the number of values to get the mean.
  • Step 3: Find the middle position of the data set by dividing the number of values by 2. If the result is a whole number, then that position is the median. If the result is a fraction, then round it up to the next whole number and find the value at that position. This is the median if there is an odd number of values. If there is an even number of values, then find the average of the values at that position and the previous position. This is the median.

For example, suppose we have the following data set:

139 143 128 138 149 131 143 133

To find the mean and median, we can do the following:

  • Step 1: Arrange the data in ascending order:

128 131 133 138 139 143 143 149

  • Step 2: Add up all the values and divide by 8 (the number of values) to get the mean:

(128 + 131 + 133 + 138 + 139 + 143 + 143 + 149) / 8 = 138.25

The mean is 138.25.

  • Step 3: Find the middle position of the data set by dividing 8 by 2:

8 / 2 = 4

Since this is a whole number, we look at the value at position 4 and position 5 (the next position) in the ordered data set:

128 131 133 (138) (139) 143 143 149

The values at these positions are 138 and 139. To find the median, we take their average:

(138 + 139) / 2 = 138.5

The median is 138.5.

Example 2: Constructing a frequency table

A frequency table is a table that shows how often each value or category occurs in a data set. It can be used to summarize and display categorical or numerical data. To construct a frequency table, we can follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the possible values or categories in the data set.
  • Step 2: Count how many times each value or category occurs in the data set.
  • Step 3: Record the counts in a table with two columns: one for the values or categories and one for their frequencies.

For example, suppose we have the following data on the GPA of six students:

3.0 3.3 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.1

To construct a frequency table, we can do the following:

  • Step 1: Identify the possible values in the data set. In this case, they are 3.0, 3.1, and 3.3.
  • Step 2: Count how many times each value occurs in the data set. In this case, 3.0 occurs twice, 3.1 occurs three times, and 3.3 occurs once.
  • Step 3: Record the counts in a table with two columns:
GPAFrequency
3.02
3.13
3.31

This is our frequency table.

These are just two examples of common statistics homework problems and how to solve them. There are many other types of problems that require different methods and techniques, such as finding standard deviation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, correlation, regression, and more. To learn more about these topics and how to solve them, you can check out some online resources such as Mathway, The Princeton Review, or Math-Drills. You can also consult your textbook, your instructor, or your classmates for more help and practice. Statistics can be a challenging but rewarding subject, and with some effort and guidance, you can master it.

How to find competent statistics help for students

When you are overwhelmed with your assignment and don’t feel like working on it, qualified statistic help for students is the best solution to your problem. However, you should find out a bit about the service before you place your order on its website. To specify, you need to know how long its team has been providing statistics assistance for students. What is more, you should check out what their pricing policy is like, as well as what other customers think about the agency in question.

Apart from that, don’t forget about the guarantees which a reliable service should provide. The more guarantees a service offers, the more secure you will feel placing your order on the website. All in all, finding a service that provides competent statistics assistance will not take you long as there are many companies you can trust. Yet, you need to pay special attention to a number of factors to choose the best service on the market. A company that provides competent assistance with statistics assignments is right on hand. You just need to learn more about what it has to offer.

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U.S. companies are barreling towards a $1.8 trillion corporate debt

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US firms are barreling towards a giant wall of corporate debt that’s about to mature over the next few years, Goldman Sachs strategists said in a note.

There’s $1.8 trillion of corporate debt maturing over the next two years, Goldman Sachs estimated. Firms could be slammed with higher debt servicing costs as interest rates stay elevated. That could eat into corporate revenue and weigh on the US job market.

The investment bank estimated that $790 billion of corporate debt was set to mature in 2024, followed by $1.07 trillion of debt maturing in 2025. That amounts to $1.8 trillion of debt reaching maturity within the next two years, in addition to another $230 billion that will reach maturity by the end of this year, Goldman strategists said.

The wave of debt that will need to be refinanced could spell trouble for companies, as interest rates have been raised aggressively by the Fed over the last year. The Fed funds rate is now targeted between 5.25%-5.5%, the highest range since 2001.

For every extra dollar spent to service their debt, firms will likely pull back on capital expenditures spending by 10 cents and labor spending by 20 cents, the strategists estimated, a reduction that could weigh down the job market by 5,000 payrolls a month in 2024 and 10,000 payrolls a month in 2025.

Experts have warned of trouble for US corporations as credit conditions tighten. Already, the tally of corporate debt defaults in 2023 has surpassed the total number of defaults recorded last year. As much of $1 trillion in corporate debt could be at risk for default if the US faces a full-blown recession, Bank of America warned, though strategists at the bank no longer see a downturn as likely in 2023.

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Russian response to sanctions: billions in dollar terms are stuck in Russia

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“Tens of billions in dollar terms are stuck in Russia,” the chief executive of one large company domiciled in a country told ‘The Financial Times’. “And there is no way to get them out.”

Western companies that have continued to operate in Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have generated billions of dollars in profits, but the Kremlin has blocked them from accessing the cash in an effort to turn the screw on “unfriendly” nations.

Groups from such countries accounted for $18 billion (€16.8 billion) of the $20 billion in Russian profits that overseas companies reported for 2022 alone, and $199 billion of their $217 billion in Russian gross revenue.

Many foreign businesses have been trying to sell their Russian subsidiaries but any deal requires Moscow’s approval and is subject to steep price discounts. In recent days British American Tobacco and Swedish truck maker Volvo have announced agreements to transfer their assets in the country to local owners.

Local earnings of companies from BP to Citigroup have been locked in Russia since the imposition last year of a dividend payout ban on businesses from “unfriendly” countries including the US, UK and all EU members. While such transactions can be approved under exceptional circumstances, few withdrawal permits have been issued.

US groups Philip Morris and PepsiCo earned $775 million and $718 million, respectively. Swedish truck maker Scania’s $621 million Russian profit in 2022 made it the top earner among companies that have since withdrawn from the country. Philip Morris declined to comment. PepsiCo and Scania did not respond to requests for comment.

Among companies of “unfriendly” origin that remain active in Russia, Austrian bank Raiffeisen reported the biggest 2022 earnings in the country at $2 billion, according to the KSE data.

US-based businesses generated the largest total profit of $4.9 billion, the KSE numbers show, followed by German, Austrian and Swiss companies with $2.4 billion, $1.9 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

‘The Financial Times’ reported last month that European companies had reported writedowns and losses worth at least €100 billion from their operations in Russia since last year’s full-scale invasion.

German energy group Wintershall, which this year recorded a €7 billion non-cash impairment after the Kremlin expropriated its Russian business, has “about €2 billion in working interest cash… locked in due to dividend restrictions”, investors were told on a conference.

“The vast majority of the cash that was generated within our Russian joint ventures since 2022 has dissipated,” Wintershall said last month, adding that no dividends had been paid from Russia for 2022.

Russian officials are yet to outline “a clear strategy for dealing with frozen assets”, said Aleksandra Prokopenko, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre. “However, considering the strong desire of foreign entities to regain their dividends, they are likely to explore using them as leverage – for example to urge western authorities to unfreeze Russian assets.”

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