Deficit falls despite rise in expenses

Muscat: Oman government’s budget deficit plunged 43 per cent to OMR1,878.4 million during January-November period of 2018.
The budget deficit for the same period of 2017 was much higher, at OMR3,296.6 million, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The total revenue of Oman government surged 34.2 per cent to OMR9,687.2 million for the first 11 months of 2018, over the same period of the previous year, thanks to a major recovery in oil prices.
As a result of a growth in oil prices, the net oil revenue of Oman government jumped by 45 per cent to OMR5,883.4 million during January-November period of 2018, from OMR4,058.5 million for the same period of the previous year, the NCSI report added.
Revenue from natural gas was up by 33.7 per cent to OMR1,774.6 million while customs duty and corporate income tax contributed OMR220.3 million and OMR439.7 million, respectively, during the period.
In addition, capital revenue shot up to OMR121.1 million during the first 11 months of 2018, registering a growth of 620.8 per cent over the same period of 2017.
As far as expenditures are concerned, total public expenditure increased by 4.8 per cent to OMR10,912.5 million for the first 11 months of 2018.
This is against an expenditure of OMR10,416.3 million for the same period of 2017.
Of this, current expenditure rose by 6.2 per cent to OMR7,920.6 million while investment expenditure fell by 8.3 per cent to OMR2,303.5 million in the first 11 months of 2018, added the NCSI report.
The participation and support surged by 54.5 per cent during January-November period of 2018 to OMR688.3 million, from OMR445.4 million for the same period of 2017.
Oman government’s total public expenditure in 2017 stood at OMR12,273.7 billion, with a total revenue of OMR8,514.1 billion, leaving a deficit of OMR3,759.6 billion.