Oman recorded a budget surplus of 1.09 billion riyals ($2.8 billion) in the first eight months of this year, compared with a more than 1 billion riyal deficit in the same period a year earlier.
The surplus was driven by an increase in oil revenues, as well as financial reforms being implemented in the country.
The Gulf country’s total public revenue in the January-August period jumped 47.3 percent to more than 9.3 billion riyals, compared with 6.3 billion riyals during the same period last year.
Total public spending until the end of August this year increased by 11.5 percent to reach about 8.2 billion riyals, compared with 7.3 billion riyals in the prior year period.
Oman is poised to post its first yearly fiscal surplus in a decade in 2022, according to a Fitch Solutions report released in August.
The sultanate’s 12-month fiscal surplus is expected to amount to 6.5 percent of its total gross domestic product this year, Fitch estimates. Revenue will rise further in the second half of the year because of high energy prices, it said.
Oil prices, which rose more than 67 percent in 2021, continue to trade higher this year amid supply concerns following Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.
