FEAS Yearbook FEAS Yearbook 2013 | Page 23

FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2013 AMMAN STOCK EXCHANGE On November 1st The (ASE) launched a new market segmentation where markets were reclassified by virtue of the new Listing Directives that became effective as of 1/10 /2012. The ASE began the implementation of the new trading hours and the new price thresholds according to the new segmentation. FUTURE OUTLOOK The ASE ‘s Board of Directors determined the price thresholds for the shares of companies listed on the First Market to become (7.5%) instead of (5%). The price thresholds for the shares listed on the Second and the Third markets remained (5%). The new directives obliged all the listed companies for the first time to provide the ASE with their quarterly reports reviewed by the companies’ auditors as of the first quarter of the year 2013. Starting January 2013 the ASE launched three indicies pertaining to each individual market. • Continuing upgrading the technical infrastructure. • Launching new financial instruments. As for the Jordan National Financial Center building, procedures are being taken in order to transfer the ownership of the building to the Treasury of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the ASE will close the accounts of the project and finalize the ownership transfer during 2013. As for the monetary policy, the Central Bank of Jordan has increased the re-discount rate from 4.5% at the end of 2011 to 5.0% at the end of 2012. Interest rate on 6-month Treasury Bills rose from 3.2% at the end of 2011 to 3.8% at the end of 2012, while the weighted average of The Amman Stock Exchange will embark on a number of key projects that will ensure maintaining the lead that the ASE has amongst Arab and regional stock exchanges. These projects can be summarized as follows: CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The Jordanian Economy has achieved a real growth of 2.5% during 2012, where the GDP reached USD 30,981 million, while the inflation rate reached 4.8% due to higher international fuel and food prices. interest rates for loans rose to 9% at the end of 2012 compared with 8.7% at the end of 2011. Domestic liquidity measured by Money Supply (M2) grew by 3.4% at the end of 2012 compared with its levels at the end of 2011. In addition, foreign currency reserves at the Central Bank of Jordan stood at USD 6,616.1 million at the end of 2012. Regarding the fiscal policy, public revenues showed a decrease of 6.6% at the end of 2012 compared with the year 2011, while public spending showed an increase of 1.0%. As for the External Trade Sector, Jordanian exports and re-exports have decreased by 1.2% at the end of September 2012 compared with the same period of 2011 while imports have risen by 10.5% during the same period. Key Information Contacts Jordan Securities Commission www.jsc.gov.jo Securities Depository Center www.sdc.com.jo Jordan Investment Board www.jordaninvestment.com Arab Monetary Fund www.amf.org.ae Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.jo Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) www.cbj.gov.jo National Information Center www.nic.gov.jo Department of Statistics www.dos.gov.jo CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name Mr. Nader Azar E-mail [email protected] Website www.exchange.jo PAGE 21