Thursday 18 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate’s general budget deficit increased by 58.5 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2020, to reach OMR2.4 billion, compared to OMR1.5 billion in the same period of 2019, constituting a ratio of 13.5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) at the current prices.
The data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on the Analysis of the Economic Situation in the Sultanate at the end of the third quarter of 2020 indicate that the total public revenue dropped by 24.4 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2020, to hit OMR6 billion, compared to OMR7.9 billion for the same period of 2019. The total public expenditure fell by 10.9 per cent to reach OMR8.5 billion.
The data also show that the GDP at current prices declined by 16.5 per cent, from OMR21.8 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2019 to OMR18.2 billion in 2020. This decrease is mainly attributed to the slump in total value added of oil activities from OMR7.7 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2019 to OMR5.8 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020.
This drop in the value added of oil activities is mainly attributed to a decrease in the value added of crude oil by 28.3 per cent and the value added of natural gas by 3.5 per cent to reach OMR1.15 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020, compared to OMR1.19 billion for the same period of the previous year.
The report also points out that the value added of non-oil activities fell by 12.4 per cent to reach OMR13.2 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020. This decrease is attributed to the drop in value added of industrial activities by 19.8 per cent and those of service activities by 10.6 per cent while the value added of agricultural and fish field activities rose by 9.8 per cent.
As for indicators of foreign trade, the NCSI data show that the surplus in trade balance at the end of the third quarter of 2020 decreased by OMR1.6 billion, compared to the same period of the previous year of 2019 when it stood at OMR2.7 billion. The decline in the surplus of the trade balance is due to a drop in the value of merchandise exports by 21.5 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2020. The value of merchandise import decreased by 11 per cent to stand at OMR6 billion.
Indicators of the monetary situation within the NCSI report show that the total domestic liquidity (M2) at the end of the third quarter of 2020 rose by 11 per cent, to reach OMR19.3 billion, compared to OMR17.4 billion in the same period of the previous year of 2019. The money supply (M1) increased by 13.4 per cent, to stand at OMR5.7 billion.
Total deposits of the private sector at the end of the third quarter of 2020 grew by 9.5 per cent, to reach OMR16.4 billion, compared to OMR15 billion in the same period of 2019.
The total value of loans and financing granted by commercial banks and Islamic windows at the end of the third quarter of 2020 rose by 2.1 per cent, to stand at OMR26.4 billion, compared to OMR25.9 billion in the same period of 2019.
The total value of personal loans at the end of the third quarter of 2020 also increased by 0.5 per cent, to reach OMR8.5 billion. The interest rate on total loans averaged 5.5 per cent.
The total value of foreign assets in the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) at the end of the third quarter of 2020 fell by 1.4 per cent, amounting to OMR6.5 billion, compared to OMR6.6 billion in the same period of 2019.
The purchasing power of the Omani rial at the end of the third quarter of 2020 declined by 2 per cent where the real exchange rate index scored about 104.0 points compared to 106.1 points in the same period of the previous year.
