Oman posts budget surplus of OMR581mn at the end of May

Muscat: Oman's State’s General Budget registered a surplus of OMR581 million at the end of May 2023, compared to a surplus of OMR631 million achieved over the same period in 2022, on the back of prudent and wise financial management by the government.

Furthermore, the State Budget spending increased by 4pc to OMR4.88 billion at the end of May 2023, up by OMR188 million compared to actual spending over the same period in 2022, according to the monthly Fiscal Performance Bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The current expenditure at the end of May 2023 amounted to OMR3.36 billion, down by OMR320 million, or by 9 percent, compared to an amount of OMR3.68 billion registered over the same period in 2022.

The State’s public revenue at the end of May 2023 amounted to OMR5.46 billion, up by 3 percent compared to OMR5.32 billion registered over the same period in 2022, according to the monthly Fiscal Performance Bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance.

This is mainly due to an increase in net oil revenue and current revenue, representing 52 percent and 30 percent, respectively, of total public revenue.

Net oil revenue amounted to OMR2.81 billion at the end of May 2023, up by 9 percent compared to OMR2.56 billion registered over the same period in 2022. This is driven by an increase in average oil price of $84 per barrel and an increase in average oil production to 1,064,000 barrels per day.

At the end of May 2023, net gas revenue amounted to OMR 1.03 billion, down by 26 percent compared to OMR1.35 billion registered over the same period in 2022. This is due to the deduction of gas purchase and transport expenses from total revenue collected from the Integrated Gas Company.

Current revenue at the end of May 2023 increased by 18 percent to OMR1.64 billion compared to OMR1.39 billion collected over the same period in 2022.

Regarding the development expenditure of civil ministries at the end of May 2023, it reached OMR289 million, representing 32 percent of total development spending allocated for 2023.

Further, at the end of May 2023, the total amount of contributions and other expenses amounted to OMR678 million, up by 31 percent compared to an amount of OMR516 million registered over the same period in 2022. This increase is a result of electricity sector subsidy and oil product subsidy by OMR244 million and OMR143 million, respectively, at the end of May 2023. Additionally, an amount of OMR166 million was transferred to future debt obligations budget-item.

Meanwhile, the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) indicated in a recent report issued in June 2023 that the gross domestic product (GDP) at fixed prices increased by 4.7 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2023, registering OMR8.7 billion when compared to OMR8.3 billion over the same period in 2022. During the first quarter of 2023, the value-addition of oil activities increased by 3.5 percent to OMR2.8 billion compared to the figures recorded over the same period in 2022. - ONA