The total revenue of Oman government surged 24.4 percent to OMR 6,677.2 million for the first eight months of 2018, over the same period of last year due to a major recovery in oil prices.
Budget deficit fell 34 percent to OMR 1,832.1 million during January-August period of 2018 due to an increase in government revenue driven by high oil income. The budget deficit for the same period of 2017 was much higher at OMR 2,776.4 million, according to preliminary statistics issued by the (NCSI).
As a result of a growth in oil prices, the net oil revenue of Oman government jumped by 35.8 percent to OMR 4,019.3 million during January-August period of 2018, from OMR 2,960.8 million for the same period of last year, the NCSI report added. Revenue from natural gas was up by 25 percent to OMR 1,198.5 million, while customs duty and corporate income tax contributed OMR 154.1 million and OMR 403 million, respectively, during the period. In addition, capital revenue shot up to OMR 115.5 million during the first eight months of 2018, registering a growth of 870.6 percent over the same period of last year.As far as expenditures were concerned, total public expenditure increased by 8.5 percent to OMR 7,968.2 million for the first eight months between January and August 2018. This is against an expenditure of OMR 7,342.7 million for the same period of last year, shows NCSI report.
Of this, current expenditure rose by 11 percent to OMR 5,807.1 million, while investment expenditure fell by 2.5 percent to OMR 1,715.6 million in the first eight months of 2018, the NCSI report added. Meanwhile, the participation and support surged by 26.9 percent during January-August period of this year to OMR445.5 million, from OMR351 million for the same period of last year. Oman government's total public expenditure in 2017 stood at OMR 12,273.7 million, with a total revenue of OMR 8,514.1 million, leaving a deficit of OMR 3,759.6 million.