Sultanate’s budget deficit plunges by 36.1 per cent

MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s budget deficit plunged 36.1 per cent to RO 1.916 billion during Januaryseptember period of 2018 due to a surge in government revenue driven by high oil income. The budget deficit for the same period of 2017 was much higher at RO 3 billion, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The total government revenues surged 29.9 per cent to touch RO 7,754.1 million for the first nine months of 2018, over the same period of last year, thanks to a major recovery in oil prices.

As a result of growth in oil prices, the net oil revenues jumped by 44 per cent to RO 4,761.5 million during January to September period of 2018, from RO 3,305.7 million for the same period of last year, the NCSI report added.

Revenue from natural gas was up by 26.2 per cent to RO 1,381.3 million, while customs duty and corporate income tax contributed RO 173.2 million and RO 415.5 million, respectively, during the period.

In addition, capital revenue shot up to RO 117 million during the first nine months of 2018, registering a growth of 786.4 per cent over the same period of last year.

As far as expenditures are concerned, the total public expenditure increased by 7.8 per cent to RO 9,092.5 million for the first nine months of 2018. This is against an expenditure of RO 8,431.4 million for the same period of last year, showed the NCSI report.

Of this, current expenditure rose by 9.5 per cent to RO 6,622.6 million, while investment expenditure fell by 5.8 per cent to RO 1,910.8 million in the first nine months of 2018, added the report.

The participation and support sectors surged by 57.6 per cent during January-september period of this year to RO 559.1 million, from RO 354.8 million for the same period of last year.