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Oman has slashed the ratio of its debt to GDP to the lowest level in 10 years while the debt servicing has also sharply receded, according to official data.
The non-OPEC GCC country’s debt stood at around 15.2 billion Omani rials ($39.5 billion) at the end of 2023 while GDP was estimated at OMR41.8 billion ($108.7 billion) in current prices and OMR38.2 billion ($99.3 billion), the Finance Ministry said in a report published by Oman newspaper on Friday.
The report showed debt servicing was reduced from around OMR1.3 billion ($3.38 billion) at the end of 2022 to nearly OMR861 million ($2.24 billion) at the end of 2023.
With lower debt and GDP growth of around 1.3 percent, the debt to GDP ratio dipped to about 36.6 percent at the end of 2023, the lowest since 2014, according to the report.
“The debt to GDP ratio is expected to continue declining in the medium terms due to an improvement in the country’s financial situation, budget surpluses and the government’s efforts to reduce the debt,” the report said.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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