Central Bank Governor: Jordanians' remittances from abroad strengthen monetary stability and support the national economy

Al-Sharkas said that remittances rank third among foreign currency sources linked to the current account, after exports and tourism income, which reflects their weight in the structure of external flows and their importance in enhancing the Jordanian economy's ability to deal with economic, regional, and international variables.

He explained that the importance of remittances is not limited to their financial volume, but extends to their nature as flows linked to the spread of Jordanian competencies in foreign labor markets, and their effects reach the local economy directly by supporting households' purchasing power and providing resources that can be converted into savings and investments that contribute to financing economic activity.

The ratio of incoming remittances to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during 2025 reached about 7.3 percent, while last July alone recorded remittances worth 470.2 million dollars, an annual growth of 13.1 percent, reflecting the continued momentum that flows have witnessed since the beginning of the current year.

Al-Sharkas stressed that the strength of the Jordanian economy is based on the integration of a number of foundations, primarily the flexibility of the external sector, the soundness of the banking system, the continuation of economic and financial reforms, and monetary policies aimed at maintaining stability.

In this context, remittances gain their importance from being regular foreign currency resources that integrate with exports, tourism income, investments, and other flows, thus supporting the Kingdom's ability to meet its external needs and enhancing its flexibility in dealing with fluctuations.

The significance of this resource is particularly evident in an open economy linked by broad trade and financial relations with its regional and international surroundings; the diversity of foreign currency sources contributes to reducing reliance on a single resource and gives the economy a broader base to adapt to changes that may affect certain sectors or markets.

Al-Sharkas pointed to the importance of the diversity of markets in which Jordanians work, as a factor that supports the continuity of remittances and reduces the link of their performance to economic developments in a single country, taking into account that these flows are affected by the nature of foreign labor markets, workers' income levels, and the timing of sending money.

The United Arab Emirates topped the sources of remittances to the Kingdom during the first seven months of the current year, with a share of 20.9 percent, followed by the United States of America at 19.3 percent, then Saudi Arabia at 17.7 percent, Qatar at 10.5 percent, and Kuwait at 5.5 percent, while the remaining 26.1 percent was distributed among other countries.

This map does not merely reflect the geographical distribution of transfers, but also reveals the extent of the Jordanian professional presence in multiple Arab and international markets, an extension that carries importance for the national economy from two angles: the first relates to the flow of income to the Kingdom, and the second relates to expanding job opportunities and experience for Jordanian human resources.

Remittances from Qatar recorded an increase of 25.8 percent, while remittances from the United States grew by 13.3 percent, Saudi Arabia by 11 percent, and the UAE by 10.7 percent.

In this framework, Al-Sharkas emphasized the importance of developing the competitiveness of national competencies and their ability to keep pace with the needs of labor markets, especially in light of rapid technological transformations and the entry of artificial intelligence applications into various productive and service sectors.

He considered that developing skills and specializations is a key factor in maintaining and expanding Jordanians' opportunities in foreign markets, which reflects on the sustainability of flows linked to their incomes, pointing in this context to the Qatari platform for employing Jordanians as an example of organized channels that link national competencies with employers' needs and open additional opportunities for employment.

Al-Sharkas explained that the Central Bank is working to develop statistical remittance data within the balance of payments by updating the calculation methodology and expanding the available database, which enhances the ability to monitor the movement of transfers, their geographical distribution, and analyze their trends more accurately.

He indicated that this development allows for a deeper understanding of the sources of remittances and the extent of their concentration in specific markets, and helps in assessing the sustainability of flows and the extent to which they are affected by changes in foreign labor markets, in addition to providing a more detailed statistical base to study their role in supporting the external sector and the national economy.

While incoming remittances represent one of the most important foreign currency resources, assessing their impact on the external sector also requires looking at outflows from the Kingdom to reach a more comprehensive picture of the movement of transfers in both directions.

Remittances out of Jordan reached about 1.8 billion dollars during 2025, while they reached 1.14 billion dollars during the first seven months of the current year.

Egypt accounted for 42.1 percent of total outgoing remittances during the first seven months of the current year, followed by Bangladesh at 11.8 percent, then the Philippines at 4.8 percent, and Yemen at 3.9 percent, while the remaining percentage was distributed among other countries.

By calculating the difference between incoming and outgoing remittances, the Kingdom recorded a positive net flow of about 2.7 billion dollars during 2025, and about 1.8 billion dollars during the first seven months of 2026.

This surplus reflects the importance of remittances in supporting the Kingdom's external resources and provides a more complete reading of their impact compared to merely looking at the total incoming amounts, especially when analyzing financial flows and their relationship to economic stability.

Al-Sharkas confirmed that the Central Bank continues to adhere to its primary goal of maintaining monetary stability, based on several factors, most notably the adequacy of foreign reserves, the soundness of the banking sector, and price stability.

The Central Bank's foreign currency reserves reached about 28.38 billion dollars, a level that enhances the safety margin available to the national economy in the face of external needs and obligations.

Remittances gain an important role within this system by providing the economy with foreign currency, but their impact on reserves should be read in a more comprehensive framework; an increase in funds transferred to the Kingdom does not mean that their value is automatically transferred to the Central Bank's reserve balance.

The importance of remittances lies in their contribution to enhancing external balance and providing an additional and continuous resource for foreign currency, within an economic system that requires the integration of income sources and financial flows, rather than relying on a single source.

At the internal level, remittances stand out as a financial resource with a direct impact on the lives of Jordanian families, as they help finance living needs and spending on education, health, and housing, and support purchasing power, which is reflected in the levels of demand and activity in local markets.

Al-Sharkas pointed to the importance of maximizing the economic benefit from these funds through financial tools and channels that allow part of them to be converted into savings and investments, thus expanding their impact from supporting current income to contributing to financing productive activity.

In this framework, the role of the banking system in mobilizing savings and providing financing stands out, so that resources flowing from abroad can contribute, in addition to their consumption use, to enhancing available financial liquidity and financing economic activity.

This trend reflects the importance of dealing with remittances as a multi-impact resource; using them for consumption contributes to stimulating local demand, while saving a portion of them provides additional resources for financial institutions, and directing them towards investment can enhance capital formation and expand their developmental impact over the longer term.

This does not mean downplaying the importance of household spending, which represents one of the basic roles of remittances, but rather seeking to provide diverse and safe financial options that allow beneficiaries to manage their resources in a way that is consistent with their needs and goals.

The importance of developing financial services related to remittances increases in light of the rapid digital transformation, which allows for improving the efficiency of transfer channels, expanding the options available to beneficiaries, and providing more detailed data on flows, their sources, and their geographical distribution.

On the other hand, the necessity of keeping pace with technical expansion with appropriate regulatory and supervisory frameworks and effective risk management stands out, especially those related to cybersecurity and the protection of financial operations and data.

The indicators for 2025 and 2026 reveal that remittances from workers abroad do not represent merely recurring financial flows, but embody a direct economic link between the spread of Jordanian competencies in global markets and the local economy's ability to benefit from this spread.