The value added of non-oil activities at the end of the third quarter of 2018 has reached RO15.3 billion, contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 67%, according to the data recently released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

As per the data of the Quarterly Analysis of the Economic Situation of the Sultanate of Oman, the value added of agriculture and fisheries sector increased by 7% by the end of the third quarter of 2018, the value added of service activities rose by 4.1%, and those of industrial activities increased by 1.2% compared to the same period of 2017.  The value added of oil activities at the end of the third quarter of 2018 was recorded at RO8.5 billion, compared to RO5.8 billion during the same period of 2017. The increase in the value added of crude oil contributed 36.2%, reaching RO6.6 billion, to the increase in value added of oil activities. At the same time, the value added of natural gas at the end of third quarter of 2018 increased by 99.3% to reach RO1.9 billion, compared to RO1 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. In general, the GDP at current prices has increased by 15.3%, from RO20 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017 to RO23 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2018. This increase is due to the rise in average of oil price from $50.6 per barrel at the end of third quarter of 2017 to about $67.2 per barrel at the end of the third quarter of 2018. Regarding the general budget of the country, the value of the deficit in the general budget of the Sultanate dipped by about 36.1% to reach RO1.9 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2018 compared to about RO3 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2017. Total revenues increased by 29.9% to reach RO7.8 billion compared to RO6 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017, while the total public expenditure grew by 7.8% to reach RO9.1 billion. With regard to the foreign trade indicators, the report indicates that the surplus in the trade balance at the end of the third quarter of 2018 has risen by RO2.5 billion compared to the same period of the previous year to reach RO4.4 billion. The surplus in the trade balance is due to the increase in the value of merchandise exports by about 30.9% to reach about RO12 billion.

The value of merchandise imports at the end of the third quarter of 2018 increased by 4.5% to reach RO7.6 billion, compared to RO7.3 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. As for the cash position indicators, the total broad money supply (M2) has risen by 2.6% to reach RO16.5 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2018 compared to RO16.1 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. Narrow money supply (M1) increased by RO40.4 million to reach about RO5.1 billion.

Total private sector deposits increased by 2.2% at the end of the third quarter of 2018, reaching RO14.1 billion compared to RO13.8 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. In terms of the total value of loans and financing which are being provided through commercial banks and Islamic bank/windows , it has increased by 7.5% at the end of the third quarter of 2018, reaching RO24.8 billion compared to RO23 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. The total value of personal loans also increased by 2.4% to reach RO8.4 billion, while the average of the interest rate on total credit has increased by 5.3% compared to 5% at the end of the third quarter of 2017.The total foreign assets in the Central Bank at the end of the third quarter of 2018 have decreased by 18.2% to reach RO5.4 billion, compared to RO6.6 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017.