The government of the Sultanate of Oman has approved its draft budget for next year, with a total deficit of 1.5 billion riyals ($3.9 billion), or five percent of the gross domestic product, as the expected deficit represents 30 percent less than the current fiscal year budget estimates, which was targeting a deficit of 2.24 billion riyals (about 5.8 billion dollars).
The initial indicators of the Omani budget for 2022 showed the government's insistence on enhancing commitment to implementing reforms, which will be driven by factors of recovering oil demand and making some adjustments to spending to achieve more revenues.
Oman realizes that 2022 is a crucial year on the way to reducing the fiscal deficit and putting pressure on the debt further, in conjunction with the implementation of development programs to gradually move away from the risks caused by the pandemic.
It is worth noting that some governmental data showed a decrease in the deficit by 62.9 percent during the first ten months of this year to just over one billion riyals ($2.62 billion). In the medium-term financial plan, Muscat aims to reduce the budget deficit from an estimated 11.5 percent of gross domestic product this year to 8.8 percent next year.
Source (London-based Al-Arab Newspaper, Edited)
