The minister of planning and international cooperation may be quite successful in waging a public relations campaign to sell his Executive Development Programme for the years 2011-2013, but can he succeed in raising JD6 billion over three years to finance the projects listed in the programme without pushing the country deeper into debt?

I shall not argue about the importance or the feasibility of the projects included in the programme. They are still unknown. In fact, I wish that all of them were implemented. The problem does not lie in the quality of the projects, their economic importance, or the extent to which they are needed.

The problem lies in financing those projects, which is believed to be beyond the ability of Jordan’s national economy and public finance.

Challenged on financing the programme, the minister stated that financing will come from four sources: JD3.2 billion from the general budget, JD800 million from official independent corporations and institutions, JD1.3 billion from foreign grants already committed, and JD800 million from sources ex-budget. These four sources will hereunder be examined one by one.

The general budget is obviously unable to provide millions of dinars as long as it suffers from an acute deficit, to the order of JD1 billion a year, even after foreign grants. Any funds that may accrue to the budget must be used to reduce the deficit and to finance unavoidable capital projects.

Let us not forget that the Ministry of Finance already has a fiscal plan to reduce budget deficit by one percentage point of the gross domestic product each year. Unfortunately, the Executive Development Programme, promoted by the minister of planning, will not help in achieving this strategic objective, which is difficult enough without adding JD6 billion to the expenditure side.

The government units with independent budgets cannot contribute towards financing the programme, simply because they collectively have a deficit of around JD400 million a year. Such units are a financial burden rather than a source to finance central government programmes.

Hopefully the minister does not have in mind the liquidity of the Social Security Corporation, an independent public sector corporation that has its own projects and investments.

As far as foreign grants are concerned, they do not constitute an additional source of revenue. Foreign grants form an ordinary item in the general budget. They are expected to decline in the future. They are never committed for years to come. Anyway, grants are used to cover part of the current expenditures, as domestic revenues are short of covering current expenditure and some unavoidable capital expenditures.

Such projects, by no means, make a surplus that can be diverted to finance the programme’s projects. They only reduce the budget deficit.

Finally, it is not clear what is meant by sources outside the budget.

If the private sector is in mind, the investment decisions must be left to the private investors, who cannot be subjected to central planning. Private investments in the programme fall under expectations and wishes.

Hopefully the minister does not mean to use public funds, or local or foreign loans outside the budget. Such practice is unconstitutional. All kinds of revenues must be credited to the budget.

One hopes that the minister of planning will not repeat one of his predecessor’s controversial Economic and Social Transformation Programme, which spent over JD350 million outside the budget without transforming anything.