Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Economy Minister has confirmed that the Omani economy is recovering and the initial indicators of economic performance are very reassuring.
"His Excellency Dr Said bin Mohammed Al Saqri, Minister of Economy, confirms that the Omani economy is recovering, and the initial indicators of economic performance are very reassuring. They are constantly improving and the performance has increased during the first half of this year by 10 per cent," Oman News Agency (ONA) said in a statement.
The Minister said in a programme, which was broadcast on the radio of the Sultanate of Oman, that the 10th five-year plan (2021-2025) will restore the momentum of economic growth, accelerate the pace of economic activities and achieve balanced economic and social development through the implementation of many programmes, initiatives and proposed projects within a specific time frame.
His Excellency indicates that raising the efficiency of public financial management will help achieve and address the current economic conditions due to the drop in oil prices and the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
His Excellency Dr Said Al Saqri explained that there are clear mechanisms to follow up on the implementation of the 10th five-year programme, in particular, and there are 430 programmes in the plan that are implemented by various authorities with follow-up indicators supervised by the Ministry of Economy.
The Minister of Economy said that the 10th five-year plan seeks to achieve an average real growth rate in GDP in the range of 3.5 per cent, increase the contribution of the private sector in investment to reach about 60 per cent, and increase the investment rate to reach about 20 perc ent of GDP.
His Excellency clarifies that small and medium enterprises play an important and essential role in the economy, and their contribution to the GDP has reached 17 per cent. The government wants to reach 30 per cent by the end of the tenth five-year plan.
His Excellency confirms that the fiscal balance programme came in order to meet the challenges resulting from the decline in oil prices, the collapse of public revenues, the high deficit, the increase in public debt, and the low credit rating of sovereign loans and to maintain overall economic performance, including economic growth and the performance of economic sectors, and to maintain the purchasing power of the Omani riyal.
His Excellency also confirmed that the programme was also aimed at restoring confidence in the performance of public finances, which is directly linked to the private sector and improving financial performance, which leads to an improvement in the credit rating of sovereign loans.
The Minister of the Economy also stressed that the programme was also aimed at restoring confidence in the performance of public finances, which is directly linked to the private sector, and improving financial performance, which leads to improving the credit rating of sovereign loans and enabling the government to borrow to implement investment and development projects, and that there is no contradiction between financial balance and economic performance.
