Oman foresees $5.7 bn deficit in pared down 2021 budget

Oman's Ministry of Finance, close to Al-Alam Palace in Old Muscat, Oman. (File/Shutterstock)

• The budget assumes the oil price for 2021 to be $20 lower than 2019 per barrel
• The budget will also provide a template for the country’s economic development in the next two decades

DUBAI: Oman’s 2021 budget assumes the price of oil will be at $45 per barrel, daily Times of Oman reported.
This price is $20 lower than 2019, but experts expect oil prices to slightly increase in 2021 in comparison with 2020.
“Oil prices have experienced a decline in 2020 due to lower oil demand as a result of lockdowns and health measures being taken worldwide to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic… The world’s economic activity is anticipated to recover gradually in 2021, leading to improved global oil demand and better oil prices,” the report quoted the Ministry of Finance.
The budget will also provide a template for the country’s economic development in the next two decades, the report added.
“This plan represents the first cycle of implementation of Oman Vision 2040, and is considered a roadmap for the next twenty years,” the daily quoted undersecretary at Ministry of Economy Nasser bin Rashid Al-Maawali.
Oman’s expenditure program for 2021 has five pillars and two objectives.
The main objectives are expansion and efficient spending, and the five pillars are higher non-oil revenues, economic growth and diversification, optimal public spending, increasing domestic and foreign investment and enabling the private sector to help achieve economic growth and job, the report added.