Oman set to deliver budget surplus for second consecutive year in 2023

Oman set to deliver budget surplus for second consecutive year in 2023

Muscat: Preliminary results for fiscal 2023 show the Sultanate of Oman on track to turning around a budgeted deficit of RO 1.3 billion into a surplus of RO 931 million for the year – only the second such surplus in a decade. After successive deficits starting in Fiscal 2014, Oman recorded its first surplus in 2022 with a sizable RO 1.1 billion in additional revenue for the year.

According to well-known audit and accounting firm KPMG, it marked the first time since 2013 that a surplus budget was delivered that year – an achievement repeated in 2023 as well. “Owing to an increase in oil prices, at the end of 2023 Oman is expected to record a surplus of RO 931 million compared to a budgeted deficit of RO 1.30 billion. This is the second consecutive year Oman is expected to record a fiscal surplus since 2013. The surplus has been directed towards enhancing social spending, stimulating economic growth and liability management exercise and public debt reduction,” KPMG noted in its analysis of the 2023 State Budget.

With oil prices averaging US$ 82 per barrel in 2023 (versus a budgeted price of $55 per barrel), oil export revenues are expected to soar