27 Sep 2008
AMMAN, Sep 27 (KUNA) -- The economic crisis that has shaken Jordanian companies dealing in international stocks has brought concern among officials and caused panic among people who invested all their savings in these companies in search for high returns.
Since the onset of the crisis, Jordanian officials worked to take deterrent measures against companies by referring any filed complaints to the national security court and issuing travel ban orders against owners of several firms.
The problem began when the government announced a deadline for Jordanian companies dealing in international stocks to control the situation which had done away with the savings of Jordanians.
The heat of the summer and Ramadan did not stop many people with accounts at these companies from standing for long hours in front of these closed firms in hopes that their money would be returned to them.
Ahmad Jasser told KUNA that he, along with a group of relatives and friends, had collected all of their savings and mortgaged property to purchase stocks in hopes of high profit, but said that as of now they had now collectively lost USD 500,000.
A woman standing close by told KUNA that she had also placed all her hard-earned savings from working at a factory into stocks in order to quickly improve her financial status, as she was promised.
Not only has she lost all she owned, but also all hopes of financially standing on her own feet because she was no longer a young woman, she explained.
Addressing this issue, Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Al-Dahabi had said during a meeting with legislators and ministers that when the law regulating the trade in foreign stocks was issued, there were concerns that hoax companies would be set up, but said the new measures would prevent these companies from undergoing arbitrary clearance and thus depriving investors of all their money.
Observers estimate the number of companies dealing in foreign stocks at 300, with a total of USD 700 million invested.
Those who suffered the most are those with low income, they said, warning of a social catastrophe that might strike a wide range of people who already suffered economically.
