Amman - Jordan's reserves of foreign currencies shot up by 16.1 per cent in the first five months of the year, to 8.99 billion dollars, the highest ever, the Central Bank of
Jordan said in a report released on Sunday.

However, the CBJ said that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, compared with 8.6 per cent in the first quarter of
2008.

It attributed the slowdown of the Jordanian economy to the effects of the global recession.

The CBJ reported a drastic decline in the inflation rate in the first five months of 2009, to 1 per cent as compared with 11.6 per cent in the same period of 2008. (dpa)