Moody's credit rating agency, affirmed in a recent report, the classification of the Sultanate of Oman at BA3. The future outlook is a result of fluctuating oil prices and their impact on the local economy, in addition to the size of the financing needs of the state's general budget.
The agency expects that the Sultanate's public debt-to-GDP ratio will decrease by about 10 percent compared to last year.
The agency indicated in its report that the real GDP growth of the Sultanate will reach about 2.6 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2022, with expectations of an improvement in the fiscal deficit of the budget from 18.1 percent last year to about 3.6 percent by the end of this year.
As for the current account deficit, it is expected, according to the agency, to decrease from approximately 13.4 percent of GDP recorded last year to 2.3 percent this year.
The financial crisis, which was translated by the 2021 Budget Law, exacerbated a huge deficit in the Sultanate of Oman’s needs for financing, which prompted Oman to open the door for domestic and external borrowing and to resort to financial reserves to bridge the financial gap, in light of the lack of funding sources and the fragility of the economic situation that the Corona pandemic made more difficult.
Source (London-based Al-Arab Newspaper, Edited)
