Oman reaps reward of high oil prices with rating boost

Oman reaps reward of high oil prices with rating boost

Upgrade follows improvement in the state’s financial performance and fall in public debt.

Muscat: Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised for the second time this year the Sultanate’s credit rating to BB with stable future outlook from BB- in April 2022 with stable future outlook.

The raising of the credit rating of Oman is due to the tangible improvement in the state’s financial performance coupled with the improvement in the balance of payments and the reduction in public debt against the gross domestic product (GDP).

This improvement was possible due to the implementation of actions taken to control the financial position and the increase in oil prices. Standard & Poor’s has also praised the government of Oman’s efforts aimed to boost transparency and disclosure of the financial statements and the details related to GDP.

The rating agency expects the actual GDP growth at 3.9 percent in 2022 and 3 percent in 2023. The non-oil sector is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2022 and by 2.5 percent average rate from 2024 to 2025. The oil price is expected to reach an average of $90 per barrel during 2023 and is expected to further decrease to $80 a barrel during 2024.

Aseel Mohammed Ridha Al