Jordan's budget deficit reaches $643m

Jordan's budget deficit reached 459. 9 million dinars (about 643.8 million U.S. dollars) during the first five months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, official figures showed on Sunday. Overall revenues in the first five months reached 2.273 billion dinars (3.2 billion dollars) compared to 2.164 billion dinars (3.1 billion dollars) during the same period of last year, according to the figures by the Ministry of Finance. The figures showed that public debt rose by 3.9 percent during the first five months of 2013 compared to the end of 2012, reaching 17.226 billion dinars (24.3 billion dollars). The ministry also said the internal debt reached about 11.862 billion dinars (16.74 billion dollars).