(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's state budget surplus fell sharply by 88.3 per cent in the January-September period of 2013 as government revenues declined mainly due to the lower average price of crude oil.
The sultanate realised a total surplus of RO339.9mn in the first nine months of this year compared with a surplus of RO2.9bn in the same period of 2012, statistics released by National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed on Monday.
Oman's total revenue for the January-September period dropped 4.2 per cent to RO10.48bn from RO10.94bn in the corresponding period last year.
Oil revenue, which accounts for 75.4 per cent of the total revenue, fell by 2.5 per cent to RO7.9bn, while gas revenue dropped 10.9 per cent to RO1.09bn from RO1.22bn in the same period last year.
Oman's total public expenditure marginally increased by 0.9 per cent to RO8.11bn in nine-month period compared with RO8.04bn in the same period last year.
According to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest estimates, Oman is expected to post a budget surplus equal to 5.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013. IMF also predicted Oman's total revenue at 47.2 per cent of GDP in 2013, down from 47.6 per cent of GDP in 2012.
Oman's oil production rose 2.9 per cent to 256.46mn barrels during the first nine months of this year from 249.33mn barrels in the corresponding period in 2012. However, the average price at which Oman sold its oil declined 4.3 per cent to US$104.9 per barrel compared with US$109.6 per barrel in the same period last year.
While China remained the biggest buyer of Oman's crude at 129.4mn barrels in the nine-month period, up 26.5 per cent from the same period last year, exports to India jumped by 351 per cent to 14.3mn barrels from 3.17mn barrels in the same period of 2012. On other hand, oil exports to Japan, South Korea and Thailand declined significantly this year.
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