Oman's public revenues exceed OMR7.9bn

Muscat: Oman's public revenue amounted to OMR7.923 billion at the end of August 2023 down by 15 percent compared to OMR9.325 billion registered over the same period in 2022.

The monthly bulletin published by the Ministry of Finance said that net oil revenue amounted to OMR4.145 billion at the end of August 2023 down by 10 percent compared to OMR4.594 billion registered over the same period in 2022. Average oil price amounted to $82 per barrel and average oil production reached 1,056,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Net gas revenue amounted to OMR1.434 billion, down by 40 percent at the end of August 2023 compared to OMR2.386 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 Integrated Gas Company.

Current revenue increased to OMR2.334 billion, compared to OMR2.331 billion collected over the same period in 2022.

Public spending amounted to OMR7.149 billion At the end of August 2023, down by OMR1.086 billion, i.e. 13 percent compared to actual spending over the same period in 2022.

Current expenditure amounted to OMR5.463 billion, down by OMR823 million, i.e. 13 percent compared to OMR6.286 million registered over the same period in 2022. Development expenditure of civil ministries reached OMR572 million, representing 64 percent of total development spending, i.e. OMR900 million, allocated for 2023.

The total of contributions and other expenses amounted to OMR914 million, down by 21 percent at the end of August 2023 compared to OMR1.150 billion over the same period in 2022.  The electricity sector subsidy and oil product subsidy amounted to OMR244 million and OMR206 million, respectively. Furthermore, an amount of OMR266 million was transferred to future debt obligations budget-item.

The State’s General Budget registered a surplus of OMR773 million compared to a surplus of OMR1.090 billion achieved over the same period in 2022.

Oman’s efforts exerted towards fiscal consolidations, public debt reduction and liability management operations, besides high oil prices, led to an improvement in public finance. This also prompted the key ratings agencies to improve the credit rating of Oman, after significant decline over the past years.

The year 2022 marks the recovery of Oman’s credit rating. In their recent reports issued in September 2023, S&P Global and Fitch upgraded the credit rating of Oman. These agencies pointed out that the credit rating of Oman could be further upgraded in case the Government continues the fiscal consolidation measures and reducing public debt, notably external debt.