Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: Moody’s has stayed Oman’s past rating at 'Ba3', a future outlook that proves the Sultanate stood the challenge of fluctuating oil prices’ impact on its local economy, coupled with the hefty volume of current financial needs of the State Budget.
In a report it issued on Monday, Moody’s referred to a 2.6 per cent growth in the Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021 and a projected 3.5 per cent GDP growth in 2022, along with prospects of improvement in the State Budget deficit from -18.1 per cent in 2020 to -3.6 per cent in 2021.
The report also forecasts a decline in public debt to GDP by a different of 10 per cent over 2020 standing, in addition to a decline in current account deficit to GDP from -13.4 per cent in 2020 to -2.3 per cent in 2021
International agencies have stayed the Sultanate’s creditworthiness since mid-2020 despite adverse external factors impacting the Sultanate’s economy.
This proves the significance of financial measures and economic initiatives undertaken by the Sultanate, including the medium-term fiscal plan (2020-2024), which targets financial stability and the realization of fiscal surplus by 2025, besides cutting down public debt.
