Muscat: The medium-term fiscal plan (MTFP) and other economic measures helped Oman to improve its public finance, bring down public debt and bag international credit ratings.

In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), Dr Nasser bin Rashid al Maawali, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, said the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) during the first half of 2022 grew 32.4 per cent at current market prices to reach about RO 20.26 billion compared to RO 15.30 billion during the first half of 2021.

At constant prices, GDP grew by 3.9 per cent during H1 2022 to reach about RO 17.59 billion compared to RO 16.93 billion during H1 2021.

The MTFP included diversifying sources of national income, improving the business environment, stimulating domestic and foreign investment, enhancing the returns from government investments, strengthening tax administration and collection efficiency and rationalising government expenditure and spending.

The MTFP helped to address three main challenges to Oman’s economy during the 10th Five-Year Plan; high fiscal deficit, high ratio of public debt to GDP and decline in credit ratings.

Public revenues rose by 53.5 per cent at RO 8 billion in July 2022 and the state posted a fiscal surplus of RO 1.02 billion in July 2022 compared to a deficit of RO 1.21 billion in July 2021.

The total public debt fell to RO 18.4 billion in August compared to RO 20.8 billion in the same period last year, a decrease of RO 2.4 billion or 11.5 per cent.

Major international rating institutions like Fitch, Standard & Poor’s have raised credit ratings for the Sultanate of Oman due to the rise in oil prices and in addition to the implementation of measures and initiatives to control financial performance, reduce public debt risks accompanied by balanced government policies.

Source: Oman Observer