The Omani Ministry of Finance revealed that the Sultanate achieved a surplus in the general budget of 1.123 billion riyals (2.9 billion dollars) in the nine months until the end of last September. At a time when high oil prices support the state’s public finances, the surplus constituted a shift from a deficit of 1.03 billion riyals in the same period of 2021.
The Sultanate’s public revenues increased by 43.4 percent until the end of last September, registering 10.5 billion Omani riyals, compared to 7.3 billion Omani riyals in the same period in 2021, as the rise in oil prices and production contributed to the growth of government revenues.
Net oil revenues (oil and gas) increased by 51.9 percent, to reach 8.1 billion Omani riyals, compared to 5.3 billion Omani riyals until the end of September 2021. This was driven by an increase in the average price of oil collected at $94, in addition to an increase in production by about 1.56 thousand barrels per day, while spending for this period exceeded 9.4 billion riyals.
The Ministry of Finance indicated that despite the government's commitment to a program of fiscal discipline and structural reforms in the past few years to reduce the growing deficit, spending increased by 12.5 percent until the end of September compared to the previous year.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
