(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Oman's budget deficit narrowed considerably in the first nine months of 2017, as the crude oil prices continued to recover and revenue growth outpaced a rise in spending.
Budget shortfall declined more than 32 per cent to RO3bn during January-September period of this year. This is a significant reduction from RO4.42bn budget deficit in the corresponding period of 2016, according to statistics released by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on Wednesday.
Total fiscal revenue grew by 20 per cent to RO5.97bn from RO4.97bn a year ago, while total public expenditure rose four per cent to RO8.43bn during the same period.
Helped by a continued recovery in oil prices this year, Oman's net oil revenue jumped by nearly 35 per cent to RO3.3bn in the first nine months of 2017 from RO2.45bn in the same period a year ago. Gas revenue increased 9.2 per cent to RO1.09bn.
However, income from corporate tax decreased 6.6 per cent to RO332.1mn, while custom duties fell 25.4 per cent to RO168mn. Other revenues rose 13.7 per cent to RO1.05bn from RO930.1mn a year earlier.
Government's current expenditure rose 5.2 per cent to RO6.05bn, while investment expenditure was 7.2 per cent higher at RO2.03bn against RO1.89bn in 2016.
Expenditure for participation and support category, which includes government subsidies, fell 23.1 per cent to RO354.8mn from RO461.2mn in the previous year.
The shrinking deficit is a marked change from the RO5.3bn budget shortfall reported for the full year 2016 when oil price averaged US$40 per barrel for the year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Oman's fiscal deficit to narrow to 13 per cent of the GDP this year compared with a higher deficit of 21.6 per cent of GDP in 2016. The IMF projects deficit to further decline to 11.4 per cent of GDP in 2018.
Oman's 2017 budget is based on an oil price assumption of US$45 per barrel for the year. The average price at which Oman sold its crude stood at US$50.6 a barrel during the first ten months of 2017, which is 30.2 per cent higher from average oil price of US$38.9 a barrel in the same period of 2016, the NCSI statistics showed.
Oman's daily average oil output decreased 3.4 per cent to 970,000 barrels in January – October period this year compared with 1mn-plus barrels output in the same period a year ago.
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