Reign of benevolence

It was a Saturday morning on January 11, 2020 when His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik took the oath before the Council of Oman.

In his speech, His Majesty the Sultan promised to safeguard achievements and to establish a prosperous future for youths.

“We are confident that you all perceive the volume of challenges that we have been through, that we have tackled with tact and patience, and then proceeded with the implementation of our social and economic plans and programmes, guided by Vision 2040. Our economic and fiscal performance has improved, and we started to accomplish for you and with you the march of growth and prosperity.”

During the three years of the Renewed Renaissance, the nation’s financial standing has improved, which is reflected in better international credit ratings. This period also saw many initiatives to provide jobs for citizens, protect low income families and improve confidence of investors.

Gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices rose to RO 44.9 billion by the end of 2022, posting a growth rate of 32.4 per cent as against 2021 figures.

The budget posted a fiscal surplus of about RO 1.146 billion, compared to an approved deficit of about RO 1.550 billion, according to indicators of preliminary results of the State’s General Budget 2022.

In 2022, the social and economic aspects received commensurate attention that reflected a rise by about RO 958 million in net public spending.

This included setting a cap on fuel prices, an increase in allocations for Oman Housing Bank’s loans, augmenting the spending for subsidising expenditures of electricity sector, the waste sector and food commodities. This is in addition to offering further support for “social security and limited income families”, raising allowances for students on scholarship abroad by 25 per cent and exempting entrepreneurs who hold Riyada card from additional emergency loans, as well as borrowers from Oman Development Bank’s emergency loan portfolio.

The government of His Majesty the Sultan was able to pay off part of its public debt and manage the loan portfolio by the end of 2022. This led to reduction in public debt from RO 20.8 billion by the end of 2021 to RO 17.7 billion in 2022.

Foreign direct investments (FDI), which stood at about RO 18.14 billion until the third quarter of 2022, increased by 10.4 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

These efforts also contributed to upgrading the volume of trade exchange between Oman and the countries of the world to stand at RO 30,421.4 million until September 2022, a rise of 46.18 per cent.

Following the Royal orders of His Majesty the Sultan, a total sum of RO 4 million has been allotted to provide school supplies and daily meals for school students from social insurance and low-income families. A total of 59,030 will benefit from the scheme.