In our next lines, we will explain the annual harvest of the Sultanate of Oman for the year 2023 in the economic and financial aspects and its impact on the local economy.
To talk about this aspect, Dr. Yousef bin Khamis Al-Mabsali was interviewed, he is a specialist in financial sciences and economics, where he said at the beginning of his speech: To begin with, the Sultanate, during the past years, adopted a number of reform packages and laws to deal with these crises, the most important one was enabling financial sustainability, which contributed It significantly contributed to controlling public debt and enhancing the ability to adapt to financial conditions and absorb the various financial challenges and economic changes that struck most countries in the world. The Fiscal Balance Project also contributed to the tangible decline in the size of public debt and an improvement in the financial situation.
He added: These measures resulted in an improvement in the Sultanate’s credit rating. In December 2023, the credit rating agency “Moody’s” issued a positive rating for the Sultanate of Oman, raising its rating to the Ba1 level with a stable outlook. This is the second increase during the year 2023, as the rating rose. In May of the same year, it went from Ba3 to Ba2 with a positive future outlook as a result of the Sultanate’s efforts to exploit additional revenues to pay off the public debt, in addition to controlling government spending and improving financial revenues, which led to a continued reduction in the size of the state’s public debt.
He also said that the Sultanate of Oman has made diligent efforts over the past years to reduce the state’s public debt by paying about 5 billion Omani riyals thanks to these measures, which contributed to reducing the public debt from 21 billion Omani riyals before 2020 to less than 16 billion riyals by the end of the third quarter of the year. 2023.
He stated: The latest financial performance bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance indicated that net oil revenues until the end of October amounted to 5 billion and 446 million Omani riyals, compared to 6 billion and 193 million Omani riyals at the end of October 2022, while the average price of oil achieved at the end of October reached 81. US dollars per barrel, and the average production reached about 1.53 million barrels per day.
He explained: At the end of October 2023, the state’s general budget recorded a financial surplus of about 830 million Omani riyals, compared to recording a surplus of 1.2 billion Omani riyals in the same period in 2022.
He pointed out that the latest report issued by the International Monetary Fund confirmed that the Sultanate maintained its commitment to financial discipline while strengthening the social safety net, and the Fund expected that the budget would achieve a surplus of 2.4 percent in 2024.
Moody’s expects average oil prices to reach about 80-85 US dollars per barrel during the period 2024-2025. It is expected that the current account will continue to achieve a surplus during the next two years. It is also important to point out that the issuance of the Social Protection Law during the year 2023, which will be implemented starting tomorrow, will pump a large monetary financial package into the local market, revitalize the local economy, and enhance local purchasing power due to the resulting increase in the volume of spending in the country. Individuals, as an amount of one billion and 400 million Omani riyals was allocated to the social protection system, and the cost of cash benefits for social protection was estimated at half a billion Omani riyals annually, where 1.5 million citizens benefit in the form of cash benefits.
He added: The public debt law of the Sultanate of Oman will seek to spare the state from financial risks and reduce the burden of public debt, as well as specify specific tools for public debt for local and foreign loans. This will undoubtedly contribute to enhancing investor confidence, enhancing economic and financial indicators, and the strength of the credit rating of the Sultanate of Oman.
At the conclusion of his conversation Dr. Yousef Al-Mubsley said that it can be said that the Sultanate of Oman achieved positive economic and financial results during the year 2023, and that the continuous improvement in the Sultanate’s credit rating is only evidence of the government’s determination to reduce the state’s public debt to a safe level and its commitment to implementing policies. Finance with the aim of improving the country’s economic and financial indicators to be consistent with the goals and objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
Source: Atheer
