lomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Fayiz A. TARAWNEH
chancery: 3504 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 966-2664
FAX: [1] (202) 966-3110

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Wesley W. EGAN, Jr.
embassy: Jabel Amman, Amman
mailing address: P. O. Box 354, Amman 11118 Jordan; APO AE 09892-0200
telephone: [962] (6) 820101
FAX: [962] (6) 820159

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), white, and
green with a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing
a small white seven-pointed star; the seven points on the star
represent the seven fundamental laws of the Koran

Economy
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Economic overview: Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate
supplies of water and other natural resources such as oil and coal.
Jordan benefited from increased Arab aid during the oil boom of the
late 1970s and early 1980s, when its annual real GNP growth averaged
more than 10%. In the remainder of the 1980s, however, reductions in
both Arab aid and worker remittances slowed real economic growth to
an average of roughly 2% per year. Imports - mainly oil, capital
goods, consumer durables, and food - outstripped exports, with the
difference covered by aid, remittances, and borrowing. In mid-1989,
the Jordanian Government began debt-rescheduling negotiations and
agreed to implement an IMF-supported program designed to gradually
reduce the budget deficit and implement badly needed structural
reforms. The Persian Gulf crisis that began in August 1990, however,
aggravated Jordan's already serious economic problems, forcing the
government to shelve the IMF program, stop most debt payments, and
suspend rescheduling negotiations. Aid from Gulf Arab states, worker
remittances, and trade contracted; and refugees flooded the country,
producing serious balance-of-payments problems, stunting GDP growth,
and straining government resources. The economy rebounded in 1992,
largely due to the influx of capital repatriated by workers
returning from the Gulf, but the recovery was uneven throughout 1994
and 1995. The government is implementing the reform program adopted
in 1992 and continues to secure rescheduling and write-offs of its
heavy foreign debt. Debt, poverty, and unemployment remain Jordan's
biggest on-going problems.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $19.3 billion (1995 e