As with most countries in the Levant, Jordan has emerged relatively unharmed from the financial storm that ravaged the world. The Kingdom’s banking sector possessed few toxic assets. The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) saw a decline of some 25 percent, far less than the world and Arab average. Still, Jordan’s economy appears faced with a tough road ahead. One of the crisis’ main victims so far has been real estate, which recorded a sharp fall in prices. In addition, remittances from the estimated 350,000 Jordanians living abroad are likely to decline and unemployment is set to rise. The economic growth forecast for 2009 is some 3 percent, down from 5.6 percent in 2008. “The Jordanian banking sector has proven to be quite robust,” said Ali Nasser, an investment analyst at the Global Investment House in Amman. “The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) upholds strict regulations, which is one of the
