Jordan's oil imports jumps 23.8 %

Jordan's oil imports in the first nine months this year jumped by 23.8 percent to reach USD 4.6 billion, compared with USD 3.8 billion in the same period last year, official figures showed Sunday. The figures, released by the general department of statistics, said diesel imports surged by 80 percent to USD 1.4 billion. Diesel imports were some USD 800 million in the January-September period last year. Jordan's oil imports represented 31 percent of total imports, they showed. Jordan is suffering from rising debts and growing budget deficit that were triggered by Egyptian natural gas supplies.