Oman’s budget deficit plunged 43% to RO 1,878.4 million during January-November period of 2018.

Oman’s budget deficit for the same period of 2017 was much higher, at RO 3,296.6 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% to RO 9,687.2 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% to RO 5,883.4 million during January-November period of 2018, from RO 4,058.5 million for the same period of the previous year, the NCSI report added.

Revenue from natural gas was up by 33.7% to RO 1,774.6 million while customs duty and corporate income tax contributed RO 220.3 million and RO 439.7 million, respectively, during the period.

In addition, capital revenue shot up to RO 121.1 million during the first 11 months of 2018, registering a growth of 620.8% over the same period of 2017.

As far as expenditures are concerned, total public expenditure increased by 4.8% to RO 10,912.5 million for the first 11 months of 2018. This is against an expenditure of RO 10,416.3 million for the same period of 2017.

Of this, current expenditure rose by 6.2% to RO 7,920.6 million while investment expenditure fell by 8.3% to RO 2,303.5 million in the first 11 months of 2018, added the NCSI report.

The participation and support surged by 54.5% during January-November period of 2018 to RO 688.3 million, from RO 445.4 million for the same period of 2017.

Oman government’s total public expenditure in 2017 stood at RO 12,273.7 billion, with a total revenue of RO 8,514.1 billion, leaving a deficit of RO 3,759.6 billion.