Omani sultan approves 2020 budget with deficit of $6.5bn

Omani sultan approves 2020 budget with deficit of $6.5bn

Omani Sultan Qaboos Bin Said has approved the 2020 budget with an expected deficit of 2.5 billion Omani rials ($6.5 billion), the official news agency of Oman reported on Wednesday. According to the news agency, the government of the Sultanate is to borrow two billion Omani rials ($5.2 billion) from foreign and domestic sources, while it is to fund the remainder, estimated to be  500 million Omani rials ($1.3 billion), from the cash reserves. The country's estimated revenues for the 2020 budget were based on the average oil prices of $58 per barrel this year. This makes 10.7 billion Omani rials - a six per cent increase compared to 2019. According to the news agency, the expenses of the government [“¦]