Sultanate’s revenues at RO 2.7 billion in four months

MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s revenues fell by 27.68 per cent to RO 2.769 billion in the first four months of 2021 compared with the same period of last year, according to the monthly data released by the Ministry of Finance.

Net oil and gas revenues amounted to RO 1.347 billion, a 36.82 per cent decrease due to the fall in oil prices and the reduction in the average production as a result of the Sultanate’s commitment to the OPEC+ agreement to cut oil production and the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Sultanate’s economy.

Meanwhile, current revenues soared by 14.43 per cent including the collection of RO 313 million as dividend from the government investments.

The ministry of finance’s monthly bulletin affirmed that the public spending continues to drop as a result of the policies and measures aimed to rationalize spending. The total spending by the end of April amounted to RO 3.596 billion, a decrease of 2.65 per cent from last year’s figure of RO 3.694 billion. The investment spending (development and capital spending) of the civil ministries stood at RO 143 million.

The budget deficit in the period between January and the end of April stood at RO 827.4 million while the repaid external and domestic debt amounted to RO 668.1 million.

The government has continued to pay the expenditure of the oil and gas sectors which amounted to RO 554.5 million by the end of April. — ONA