The Oman government’s budget deficit plunged 36.1 per cent to OMR2.04 billion during the January-October period of 2018 due to a surge in government revenue driven by high oil income. The budget deficit for the same period of 2017 was much higher at OMR3.19 billion, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The total revenues of the Oman government surged 32.2 per cent to OMR8.69 billion for the first 10 months of 2018, over the same period of last year, thanks to a major recovery in oil prices.

As a result of the growth in oil prices, the net oil revenues of the Sultanate’s government jumped by 46.9 per cent to OMR5.37 billion during the January-October period of 2018, from OMR3.66 billion for the same period of last year, the NCSI report added.

Revenues from natural gas were up by 29.8 per cent to OMR1.57 billion, while customs duty and corporate income tax contributed OMR198.8 million and OMR429.9 million, respectively, during the period.

As far as expenditures are concerned, the total public expenditure increased by 7.2 per cent to OMR10.10 billion for the first 10 months of 2018. This is against an expenditure of OMR9.43 billion for the same period of last year, the NCSI report showed. Of this, current expenditure rose by 10.3 per cent to OMR7.32 billion, while investment expenditure fell by 10.2 per cent to OMR2.19 billion in the first 10 months of 2018, the NCSI report added.

The contributions and subsidy surged by 52.3 per cent during the January-October period of this year to OMR669.6 million, from OMR439.7 million for the same period of last year.

The Oman government’s total public expenditure in 2017 stood at OMR12.27 billion, with a total revenue of OMR8.51 billion, leaving a deficit of OMR3.75 billion.