Muscat: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation completed consultations with the government represented by the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Dr Mahmoud Mohiedin, Executive Director of the (IMF) said that the IMF’s delegation confirmed the presence of good indicators for the Sultanate compared with before particularly with the Oman Future Vision 2040.
This was stated at a virtual economic council organized by the Oman Economic Association (OEA) in which it hosted the executive director of IMF.
Dr Khlaid bin Said al Amri, Chairman of the board of directors of OEA mediated the session.
The executive director of IMF said the Sultanate’s economy contracted by 6.4 per cent in the previous year due to the sharp drop in international crude oil prices and the impact of Covid-19. He added that Oman’s economy is projected to grow 1.8 per cent this year after earlier reports expected a 0.5 per cent drop noting that inflation is under control.
The IMF director stated that external borrowing of the Sultanate has reached 130 per cent, however its ability to repay (ATR) remains within good limits. He said that the Medium Term Fiscal Balance Plan will enable the Sultanate to achieve the sustainable development goals as well as the strategic objectives of the Oman Future Vision 2040.
The Sultanate boasts a unique position that allows it to be at the forefront of the logistics sector which is expected to see large investments specially after the world’s center of economic gravity had shifted from West to East like China, Korea, India and other East Asian countries.
This will contribute to the growth in international trade and investment activities in the Middle East region, the IMP director said adding that there are significant opportunities for the Sultanate to diversity its income sources away from oil and gas by the digital transformation and investing in human capital and rearranging spending priorities.
Text by Majid al Hattali
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