Amman

- Youssef Al-Azab, in his thirties, did not expect that the loan he received to conduct a childbirth operation for his wife in a private hospital would lead him to imprisonment due to his inability to repay the loan, after he was laid off from work by closing the carpet factory in which he was working.

Al-Azab obtained a loan of 1,800 dinars (2.5 thousand dollars) from a small financial financing institution, in exchange for an interest rate of 12%, and he adds to Al-Jazeera Net: I made about 13 payments for more than a year, but my living conditions faltered after the factory closed, and I was unable to pay The rest of the amount until bits are required for judicial execution.

As for the twenty-year-old Maryam Al-Sayed (23 years old), she obtained a loan from a small financing institution in the amount of 700 dinars (one thousand dollars) to pay off the financial liabilities of the university in which she studied, in order to enable her to obtain her graduation certificates to apply for a job in a private school, but she was not successful in a job, so the loan threatened her. in prison.

Soft loans with high interest rates

Al-Azab and Al-Sayed share many defaulters in repaying small loans. Fatima Al-Faqir, in her forties, is unable to pay off a loan of 900 dinars (1.2 thousand dollars) that she obtained to pay the house rent and electricity and water bills, so she is looking for benefactors and charities to help her pay off the loan for fear of being imprisoned.

Small debtors tend to borrow from small financial finance companies and institutions scattered in the governorates of the Kingdom, due to the ease of obtaining financial loans from these companies, and with easy and easy repayment terms, but with high interest rates of more than 20%, according to borrowers.

In terms of numbers, the indebtedness of Jordanians from individual borrowers from financial institutions and commercial banks until the end of 2021 amounted to about 11.8 billion dinars ($16.6 billion), recording an increase of 8.6% from 2020, when it recorded 10.9 billion dinars ($15.3 billion), according to the bank’s report. Jordanian Central.

The number of borrowers in 2021 reached 1.220 million, compared to 1.170 million in 2020, with an increase in the number of borrowers by about 50 thousand, by 4.3%.

About 155,000 people are wanted by the judiciary

As of the middle of this month, the number of Jordanians wanted for judicial execution in connection with civil debts amounted to about 155,000 debtors, of whom about 100,000 are borrowers whose debts are less than 5,000 dinars ($7,000) or less, according to the head of the Parliament's Legal Committee, Ghazi Thuneibat.

Added to this number - according to Thuneibat's interview with Al-Jazeera Net - 43,000 convicts in financial cases against the background of issuing checks without balance, and about 13,000 immigrant debtors to neighboring countries in Egypt and Turkey are sentenced to imprisonment after accumulating debts on them of more than 100,000 dinars ($140,000).

Thuneibat's talk coincides with the imminent end of Defense Order No. 28 issued by the current government in March 2021, which stipulated postponing the implementation of debtor imprisonment decisions issued under the provisions of Article (22) of the Implementation Law, provided that the total sums adjudged to any person do not exceed 100,000. Dinars (140,000 dollars) and the suspension of the implementation of penal provisions that stipulate a prison sentence for crimes related to issuing a check with no balance, in cases where the total value of checks does not exceed 100,000 dinars (140,000 dollars) and banning the travel of those covered by the provisions of the first and second clauses of this defense order According to a decision issued by the competent judicial authority.

Debtor's imprisonment controversy

There is a state of controversy among Jordanians about the "imprisonment of the debtor" between a supporter and a rejecter, and the House of Representatives asked his country's authorities to extend the defense order related to the debtor for the next half of the year 2023, taking into account the difficult economic conditions that Jordan is going through, according to Ahmed Al-Khalayleh, the first deputy speaker of the Council, to Al-Jazeera. net.

While the Bar Association rejects any new extension to stop the debtor's imprisonment, attributing the reason for that to "the principle of the rule of law and the achievement of justice between the creditor and the debtor," in addition to the fact that the Jordanian economy is based on the idea of ​​"forward dealing" as a result of purchasing power and the modest value of cash in the hands of Jordanians. Which forces him to borrow to meet his needs.

The head of the Bar Association, Yahya Abu Abboud, called for the application of the principle of "civil execution" to be an alternative to the imprisonment of the debtor and the preservation of the right of the creditor. "Civil execution" includes the inability of the debtor to conclude any legal action or exercise any of his civil rights as long as he is a debtor, as he cannot renew a license or license, nor to pay a bill, nor to make any participation, whether a lease, work or sale.

Human Rights Watch called on the Jordanian authorities to "stop the practice of debtor imprisonment," and the organization documented, in a statement issued in early May, "how tens of thousands of Jordanians borrow, in the absence of an adequate social protection network, to cover basic requirements, only to end up in prison." or become liable for non-payment.

The indebtedness of Jordanians who are borrowers from financial institutions and banks until the end of 2021 amounted to 11.8 billion dinars (Reuters)

Reasons for stumbling

Despite the high rates of borrowing among Jordanians, the default rates in the Kingdom by repaying these loans are the lowest rates in the world, as the default rate does not exceed 4.7%, while the rates of default globally range from 8-10%, according to economist Salama Al-Darawi to Al-Jazeera. net.

Al-Darawi attributed the reason for this to “the high levels of security of banks and lending financial institutions,” adding that loans contribute to advancing the economy and development, especially since the largest share of debt belongs to housing loans, at 40%, and personal advances, which constitute 35% of the total loans. In addition to consumer loans at a rate of 13%, and the purchase of cars at a rate of 11%.

The indebtedness of individuals poses social, economic, and living risks to Jordanians. Specialists attributed the reasons for the high number of wanted persons as a result of non-payment of debts to "the difficult economic conditions that Jordanians are going through, the decline in purchasing and living capabilities, and the consequences of the Corona pandemic."