IMF hails Oman’s steps to cut deficit

DUBAI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) hailed the measures taken by the Sultanate’s Government to reduce the state’s budget deficit.

In its report “Regional Economic Outlook Update on Middle East and Central Asia,” which was launched in Dubai on Tuesday, IMF said that the initial non-oil deficit decreased by 5.25 points of the non-oil GDP in the GCC states driven by the Sultanate and Qatar.

This improvement resulted from energy price reforms and spending cuts (Algeria, the Sultanate, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), as well as increases in non-oil revenue in some countries (Algeria, the Sultanate and Saudi Arabia). The report added that the Sultanate is making continuous great efforts to attract foreign investments and that the measures taken by the Sultanate to reduce the deficit included increasing tax rates, control of the current expenditure and reduction of capital expenditure. It pointed out that the policies’ amendments, such as reducing public expenditure in oil exporting countries, will restrict the economic activities and build upon the progress made to control expenditure.

IMF staff projections suggest that the fiscal deficits of MENA oil exporters could fall below 1 percent of GDP by 2022-a big improvement over 2016. — ONA