Fitch Revises Oman’s Outlook Up To Stable, Amid Improving State Finances

Fitch Revises Oman’s Outlook Up To Stable, Amid Improving State Finances

A man look out over Al-Wadi al-Kabir, Oman in February 14, 2018 (Photo: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty ... [+] Images) Fitch Ratings has offered a cautious vote of confidence in Oman's economy, by improving the outlook on the sovereign's credit rating from negative to stable. The ratings agency said the revision reflected improvements in some key fiscal metrics, including the government debt-to-GDP ratio and the size of the budget deficit. The authorities in Muscat are likely to welcome the change, which comes after four ratings downgrades by Fitch in the past four years. It also means all three main ratings agencies have now taken similar action in recent months, with Moody's and S&P Global Ratings revising their outlooks on Oman upwards in October. Explaining its latest move, Fitch said it estimated that the country's deficit fell sharply to 3. 4% of GDP in 2021, compared to 16. 1% of GDP in 2020. More than half of that was due to higher oil and gas prices, with hydrocarbons revenues up by around a third. However, non-oil revenue has also been increasingly strongly, rising 40% year-on-year in the first ten months of this year, helped by the introduction of a value-added tax