The general budget of the Sultanate of Oman achieved a financial surplus of 357 million Omani riyals by the end of the first quarter of this year (928 million dollars), as the surplus will be directed to stimulate economic recovery, increase spending on priority development projects, reduce the level of indebtedness and manage its risks.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the state’s public revenues until the end of the first quarter of 2022 witnessed an increase of 66.3 percent, to record about 3 billion Omani riyals ($ 8.45 billion) compared to the revenues collected in the same period in 2021, which amounted to 1.8 billion Omani riyals ($ 4.3 billion). The rise was mainly attributed to the growth of net oil revenues at the end of the first quarter of 2022 by 70.2 percent, recording about 1.5 billion Omani riyals compared to the same period in 2021 due to the increase in the average oil price achieved to about $ 78 per barrel. The average production increased to about 1.025 million barrels per day, compared to the price achieved during the same period in 2021, which amounted to 45 US dollars and an average production of about 952,000 barrels per day.
Current revenues increased by 23.7 percent, compared to the same period in 2021, as a result of the start of collection of value-added tax revenues by about 69 million Omani riyals and the excise tax by about 24 million riyals, in addition to improving the processes of supplying government revenues.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
