Government revenues estimated at more than OMR2.7bn by April 2021

Muscat: Fiscal bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance shows that government revenues dropped by 27.68 per cent from January till the end of April 2021 to stand at OMR2.76 billion compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

The statement indicated that net oil revenues stood at OMR1.34 billion, down by 36.82 per cent due to the decline in oil prices and production average, coupled with COVID-19 impacts which slowed the Sultanate’s economic and financial growth.

The bulletin noted that the Sultanate is committed to Opec-Plus production cut agreement.
Meanwhile, current revenues saw a rise of 14.43 per cent, of which OMR313 million came from the distribution of government investment dividends.

The bulletin stressed that the state’s public spending continues to decline in light of policies and procedures aimed to rationalise spending and raise its efficiency.

As a result, general expenditure by the end of April 2021 stood at OMR3.59 billion (OMR3.596 billion), down by 2.65 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2020, while Investment expenditure (developmental, capital) of civil ministries stood about OMR143 million.

The bulletin also showed that the Sultanate introduced a new item, a provision termed ‘Debt Settlement Allocation’, in drafting the State Budget 2021, with the purpose of paying part of future loan outstanding. By the end of April 2021, a sum of OMR50 million was transferred to the Debt Settlement Allocation Provision, from a target sum of OMR150 million.

The budget deficit by April 2021 reached OMR827.4 million, while the local and foreign paid loans stood at OMR668.1 million.

The bulletin showed that in light of establishing Energy Development Oman (EDO), starting its operations, and transferring the expenditure obligations to the company in the second half of 2021, the government still continues to pay the expenses of oil and gas sectors which stood at OMR554.5 million by April 2021.

The reserves of crude oil and condensates by the end of 2020 stood at OMR4.7 billion barrels, while the average production rate reached 950,700 barrels daily. In addition, the Sultanate’s gas reserves by the end of 2020 reached 23.69 trillion cubic feet, while the average production rate was 121.9 million cubic feet daily.