Oman’s budget deficit down by over 90%: NCSI – Times of Oman

Oman’s budget deficit down by over 90%: NCSI – Times of Oman

Muscat: The Sultanate's budget deficit decreased by 91.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, reaching OMR26.3 million, compared to OMR309.1 million in the same period of 2019. The ratio is 0.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) at the current prices, according to the data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The NCSI report on the Analysis of the Economic Situation in the Sultanate for the first quarter of 2020 indicates that the total public revenue decreased by 3.5 per cent, reaching OMR2.6 billion, compared to OMR2.7 billion for the same period of 2019. The total public expenditure decreased by 12.5 per cent to reach OMR2.6 billion.

The data also show that the GDP at current prices decreased by 3.9 per cent, down from OMR7 billion in the first quarter of 2019 to OMR6.75 billion in 2020. The decline is due to the decrease in the total value added of non-oil activities from OMR4.9 billion in the first quarter of 2019 to OMR4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020.

The total value added of oil activities increased by 0.7 per cent, reaching OMR2.43 billion in the first quarter of 2020, compared to OMR2.41 billion