Jordan appointed former central banker Umayya Toukan as finance minister Monday in a move officials said aimed to allay investor concerns over soaring public spending that has threatened fiscal and monetary stability. The appointment of Toukan to the reform-minded government of international jurist Awn Khasawneh that took office Monday signaled a desire to restore fiscal discipline, they said. Economists say the previous government's extra $1 billion of social spending - mainly on salary hikes and handouts - was projected to send the budget deficit over 7 percent of GDP after grants. Without a Saudi grant of $1.4 billion this year it would have gone beyond 11 percent, officials privately say. Officially the budget deficit is still at 5.5 percent of GDP. US-educated Toukan, who holds a doctorate from Columbia Business School, was the CEO of Jordan's Stock Exchange and from 2001 to 2010 was governor of the Central Bank. He is widely respected within the IMF and donor community, officials said.
