The Ministry of Finance reported a 28.1 per cent increase in public revenues, which climbed to RO 8.7 billion for the ten months ended October 31, 2021, up from RO 6.502 billion for the corresponding period of 2020. The uptick helped bring down the budget deficit for the year to RO 1.006 billion, down from RO 2.713 billion for the corresponding period of 2020 – an improvement of around 63 per cent over the period.
According to the monthly bulletin on the Sultanate of Oman’s fiscal performance, the rise in revenue is attributable to a strong recovery in oil prices driven by demand for energy. The price of Oman crude averaged $58.89 per barrel for the first ten months of this year, up from $48.54 per barrel for the corresponding period of 2020. Crude production was also up slightly to 960k barrels per day this year, up from 955k per barrel last year.
Net oil revenues soared to RO 4.443 billion this year, up from RO 3.282 billion for the corresponding period of last year. Gas revenues surged 50.6 per cent to RO 1.698 billion, up from RO 1.127 billion for the corresponding period of 2020.
Moreover, current revenues increased by 40.8 per cent at the end of October 2021, totalling RO 2,128.9 million as compared to RO 1,512.5 million during the same period in 2020. This included tax and fees revenue which amounted to RO 1,024.1 million and non-tax revenue of RO 1,104.8 million.
Public spending was maintained at current trends, with an amount of RO 9,339.2 million spend during the first ten months of the year, compared with RO 9,216.5 million registered during the same period of 2020.
As part of the Government’s continuous efforts to energise the national economy, a Fee Setting Policy Handbook was prepared with the aim of standardizing the pricing of government services in order to speed up and facilitate such services. This handbook was applied on a number of Government entities, which resulted in a reduction and cancellation of 548 services’ fees, the Ministry said.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has reduced fees for 30 services by 17-95 per cent. The Ministry of Heritage and Culture reduced fees of 29 services by 17-60 per cent. In the case of municipal services, fees pertaining to as many as 489 services were either waived or reduced by 29-96 per cent.
The COVID-19 Supreme Committee has announced earlier that some enterprises shall be granted exemptions from paying renewal fees and late fees for their businesses license. Such exemptions will be valid until the end of December 2021.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
