MUSCAT: Ongoing efforts to reduce the size of the Sultanate of Oman’s public debt was significant beneficial implications for the Omani economy, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Besides contributing to economic growth in general, reining in public debts will improve the credit rating of the country, increase the flow of investments, reduce external financing risks, restore fiscal space, reduce the cost of servicing public debt, and make available the resultant savings for the financing of additional development projects, it has stressed.
The gross domestic product of the Sultanate of Oman at current prices exceeded RO 32 billion at the end of September 2022, registering a growth of 30.4 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
This increase is due to the improvement in oil prices and the economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic. Oil activities grew by 72.5 per cent to reach RO 12.48 billion at the end of September, compared to RO 7.23 billion a year earlier.
The Ministry of Finance also affirmed that provisional results indicate an improvement in the financial performance of the state’s general budget for the fiscal year 2022.
Public revenues climbed 34.5 per cent to RO 14.234 billion, compared to projections in the budget at the start of the year. This has resulted in expectations of a financial surplus of about RO 1.146 billion, compared to an anticipated deficit at the beginning of the year at about RO 1.550 billion.
The financial indicators of the Sultanate of Oman witnessed a remarkable improvement during the year 2022, supported by an increase in oil revenues, as the average oil price reached $94 per barrel, and prices reached record levels hitting a peak last August of $112.9 per barrel as against a year’s low of $73.1 per barrel in February.
Regardless, it was well above the $50 per barrel price approved in the state’s general budget for 2022.
Overall, Oman continued to manage its public debt and enhance its ability to face the financial challenges that the world has witnessed in the past period, the Ministry added.
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