Især en voldsom forhøjelse af brændselspriserne slår hårdt, når man er fattig i forvejen – men det var et krav fra Valutafonden for at stille nye penge til rådighed for den slunkne jordanske statskasse.
JORDAN VALLEY, 22 February 2013 (IRIN): The 4.000 people of Fifa village in northwestern Jordan rely on seasonal agricultural work in the Jordan Valley, sheep-breeding, and cash and material assistance from the Social Development Ministry, but they and many others are being driven further into poverty.
Rising fuel prices, an earlier rise in food prices, the spillover of the Syrian crisis, and a slowdown in private charity work have increased poverty and decreased (formindsket) food security in a country that already lacked sufficient support systems and strategies for the poor, local charities say.
The prices of some types of fuel have increased by nearly 40 percent since a November 2012 government decision to lift the fuel subsidy (ophæve ordning til at holde priserne nede).
Therefore Salha* (50 and unemployed) can no longer afford to heat her home. Food distributions she used to receive from local charities have slowed, if not stopped.
“There is no bread, no flour, no sugar in the house any more,” she told IRIN.
The government lifted its fuel subsidy in an attempt to reduce the budget deficit (underskud) in order to secure a two billion US dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund. The price of gas, used for cooking and heating, rose from 6,5 Jordanian dinars per cylinder (gasflaske) to 10.
Some food prices – which had already increased as the Syrian crisis disrupted supply and export chains – increased further.
Chicken and eggs for example, have risen in price by 25 percent since November, according to the Foodstuff Traders Association, because of the high heating costs (opvarmning af stalde) involved in raising chickens.
Overall, the average Consumer Price Index for food prices has risen steadily from 2009 to 2012, according the Jordanian government’s Department of Statistics, though there are seasonal changes and the price of cereals (kornprodukter) has remained stable.
Strains and coping mechanisms
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97528/Jordanians-driven-further-into-poverty
