Fitch upgrades Oman’s rating to BB+ with stable outlook

Fitch upgrades Oman’s rating to BB+ with stable outlook

Fitch project Oman's budget surplus to narrow to 2.2% of GDP in 2024 and 0.9% in 2025 from 3.2% in 2023.

The post Fitch upgrades Oman’s rating to BB+ with stable outlook appeared first on The Arabian Stories News.MUSCAT: International rating agency Fitch has affirmed Oman’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BB+’ with a Stable Outlook.

Oman’s ratings are supported by higher GDP per capita and World Bank Governance Indicators than peer group medians, the positive impact of recent budget reforms and decreasing government debt/GDP.

“High dependence on oil revenue, modest financial buffers given high exposure to volatile hydrocarbon prices, and Oman’s net external debtor position weigh on the ratings. We anticipate Oman will retain a focus on improving its non-oil fiscal balance, although the record is short,” Fitch said in the statement.

“We project Oman’s budget surplus to narrow to 2.2% of GDP in 2024 and 0.9% in 2025 from 3.2% in 2023, assuming a Brent oil price of USD80 and USD70 per barrel, respectively. We estimate Oman’s fiscal breakeven Brent oil price at USD65-70 per barrel,” the statement added.

Fitch assumes OPEC+ will unwind production quotas from 4Q24, which will mitigate part of the revenue loss from lower oil prices