Jordan's total foreign debt in 2011 was $19 billion, representing 60% of its GDP. In 2016, the debt reached $35.1 billion representing 93% of its GDP. According to the World Bank, Syrian refugees have cost Jordan more than $2.5 billion a year, amounting to 6% of the GDP and 25% of the government's annual revenue. Foreign aid covers only a small part of these costs, while 63% of the total costs are covered by Jordan. King Abdullah had warned in January 2016 that Jordanians have reached “a boiling point”, and called on donor countries to provide more to Jordan to help it cope with the crises. He told the BBC in an interview that "in the psyche of the Jordanian people I think it's gotten to a boiling point, sooner or later the dam is going to burst." Jordan has historically welcomed refugees—
Palestinians in
1948 and
1967, Iraqis during the American invasion and now Syrians, who make up about 20 percent of Jordan's then 9.5 million population—and, according to Abdullah, "For the first time, we can't do it any more." The
UNHCR places Jordan as the world's second largest host of refugees per capita. The austerity program raised prices on several food staples in 2016 and 2017, making him very unpopular in the country. The programme succeeded in preventing the debt from rising above 95% in 2018, however, it strained Jordan's weak economy. Furthermore, worsening Jordan's conditions is a decision by
Persian Gulf countries, like
Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, to withhold $1 billion in annual economic assistance that were directed towards the creation of jobs and economic growth hampered the finances of Jordan, which lacks the natural resources of its neighbors, amassing an unemployment rate of 18% and a much higher poverty rate. A 22 March 2018 report by
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace commented on Mulki's policies: "Mulki declared openly that his predecessors had left the country at the brink of insolvency and that the failure to take tough revenue-raising measure would lead to a debt crisis which would destroy the country. And he is correct. What is more doubtful is Mulki’s assertion that Jordan “will get out of the bottleneck” in 2019. While the measures to raise taxes and reduce subsidies buy time, they leave Jordan struggling to stay afloat and dependent on the continued flow of extensive aid." On 22 May, the Jordanian Cabinet approved a new draft law proposing changes to the 2014 income tax law. The draft aimed to fight
tax evasion and to raise taxes on some sectors and individuals. ==Protests==