Shura Council hosts Minister of Economy

Muscat: As part of its planning to shape the features of the next five-year plan (2026-2030), the Ministry will focus on global economic changes, trends in the field of energy, and the growing interest in environmental sustainability, zero neutrality, green hydrogen, and the importance of integration with technological transformations and artificial intelligence, Minister of Economy said.

His Excellency Dr. Said Al Saqri, Minister of Economy, reviews before the Shura Council during the fifth regular session of the first annual session of the tenth term the performance of the Omani economy and the macroeconomic assessment until the middle of the tenth five-year development plan (2021-2025), and the role of the Ministry in confronting regional and international economic changes.

The Minister of Economy said :" The government has taken a number of policies and measures to recover from the effects of the Corona pandemic and improve economic performance and raise its indicators, including launching economic stimulus packages, tax exemptions, low-interest financing, direct financial support for some affected institutions, and providing soft loans for projects."

" During the elapsed period of the Tenth Five-Year Development Plan 2021-2023, the Omani economy witnessed rapid positive developments, including achieving growth in real prices during the first two years of the plan amounting to approximately 2.6 percent and 9.6 percent, while it is expected to achieve positive growth rates in the remainder of the plan."

His Excellency:" The proactive government measures to protect the Omani economy from inflation contributed to maintaining it within safe limits despite the rise in global inflation rates, averaging about 6 percent in 2023, while in the Sultanate of Oman it did not exceed 1 percent."

His Excellency expects the actual volume of spending on the development budget in 2023 to reach about OMR 1.2 billion.

" The Ministry seeks to develop and prepare an index to measure the competitiveness of governorates that includes the most prominent projects and completed works," the Minister said.