Expat remittances fell by 7.5% to OMR 3.12 Billion in Oman

Muscat: Remittances by expatriates in Oman witnessed a decline of 7.5 percent to OMR 3.12 billion in 2021, according to a newly released Annual Report of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO.)

This decline in remittances was over and above a 4.0 percent decline in 2020 mainly due to the sharp fall in the number of expatriate workers because of the massive disruptions due to COVID-19 pandemic and the overall sluggishness in global economy.

Decline in Expat Workers

“The leakage of savings in the form of current transfers (mainly workers’ remittances abroad) declined by 7.5 percent during 2021,” the CBO Annual Report said. “This reflected in the decline in expatriate workers, whereas the outflow of savings on account of net primary income increased by 14.5 percent in 2021,” the report added.

The report further elaborated that the gross domestic savings, on other hand, saw a significant improvement by 30.5 percent during 2021 after witnessing a contraction of 34.6 percent in 2020 when the pandemic severely affected employment conditions and business activities.

Increased National Savings

Increase in gross domestic savings and lower current transfers abroad led to a significant growth of 78.7 percent in gross national savings in 2021 against a decline of 55.4 percent in 2020.

Gross domestic savings to GDP ratio improved to 33.5 percent in 2021 from 29.9 percent a year ago, while gross national savings to GDP ratio increased to 17.5 percent from 11.4 percent in 2020.