The foreign assets of Oman's Central Bank declined last July, by 5.2 percent (about $897 million), compared to the previous month of June, as the economic repercussions of the Coronavirus crisis continued.
According to the data released by the Central Bank of Oman, foreign assets decreased for the second month in a row, to 6.286 billion riyals (16.37 billion dollars) in July 2020. The central bank’s foreign assets reached an amount of 6.630 billion riyals (17.27 billion dollars) last June.
On an annual basis, the foreign assets of the Omani central bank increased by 6 percent in July, compared to 5.927 billion riyals ($15.44 billion) in the same month of 2019.
The Sultanate's public finances were affected by the double strike of the Corona outbreak and the drop in oil prices, despite it being a small oil producer with a production volume not exceeding one million barrels per day. According to Fitch Ratings, the next three years will be a critical test of the resilience of financing that Oman has shown in the past, with Oman's financing needs remaining substantial beyond that.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
