Muscat: The Sultanate's general budget achieved a financial surplus of RO357 million by the end of the first quarter of this year, which will be directed to stimulating economic recovery, increasing spending on priority development projects, reducing the level of indebtedness, and managing its risks.

The Ministry of Finance paid RO146.4 million by the end of the first quarter of 2022 in dues to the private sector through the financial system.

The state's public revenues witnessed, until the end of the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 66.3 percent to record about RO3. 25 billion while the total public expenditure amounted to about RO2.688 two billion until the end of the first quarter of 2022, registering an increase of 3.8 percent on actual spending compared to the same period in 2021.

Ministries and civil units recorded consistency in the spending rate compared to the same period in 2021, and spending on the public debt service item - which is designated for paying interest on loans - amounted to about (291) million Omani riyals.

The development expenditures for ministries and civil units increased by about 130.8 percent to reach about RO150, compared to the end of the first quarter of 2021 AD.

Other expenditures amounted to about RO179 million, of which RO50 million was allocated to the provision for debt repayment.

Subsidies for petroleum products amounted to about RO67 million, after the decision issued in November 2021 to fix the prices of vehicle fuels according to the average month of October 2021 as a maximum, and so that the government bears the differences resulting from any increase in oil prices until the end of 2022.

And the state’s general budget achieved a financial surplus at the end of the first quarter of 2022 AD, amounting to about (357) million Omani riyals, compared to recording a financial deficit of (751) million Omani riyals in the same period in 2021 AD.

The World Bank, in its report issued in April 2022 on the latest economic developments for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, expected the Omani economy to recover in light of the continuation of measures taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and the improvement in oil prices and production.

The GDP of the Sultanate of Oman is expected to grow by 5.6 percent, supported by the growth of more than eight and two ) percent in the oil and non-oil sectors, respectively, this year 2022, The GDP growth is likely to drop to 2.7 percent on average during the years 2023-2024.

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