{"id":20919,"date":"2025-01-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/20919\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:59:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:59:25","slug":"economists-welcome-omans-2025-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/20919\/","title":{"rendered":"Economists welcome Oman’s 2025 Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Omani economic analysts and experts have welcomed \u00a0Oman\u2019s State Budget for 2025. Their consensus is that the Budget is relatively balanced and maintains support for social spending, while also taking a positive step toward reducing the cost of public debt.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr Dhafir bin Awadh Al Shanfari, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee of the State Council, said that the most significant aspects of the Budget include maintaining social support subsidies and the social protection system.<\/p>\n

He also noted the good progress in reducing the annual cost of public debt through the restructuring of some loans.<\/p>\n

Dr Al Shanfari said the Budget creates potential for increased investment with high local content, if a surplus is achieved during the year. He added that it is important that surplus funds should be reinvested in promising sectors to enhance GDP, such as industry, tourism, fisheries and logistics.<\/p>\n

He also commented favourably on the allocation for boosting employment opportunities in the private sector and supporting programmes to employ and train Omanis.<\/p>\n

Dr Al Shanfari predicted that average oil prices will rise above USD 70 per barrel, thereby eliminating the deficit projected on the assumption of USD 60 per barrel.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr Mohammed bin Hamid Al Wardi, a member of the State Council, said that the Budget continues to implement the Tenth Five-Year Plan and financial sustainability initiatives, amidst global geopolitical tensions and economic challenges. He stated that this year\u2019s Budget, the final one in the Tenth Five-Year Plan, amounts to OMR 11.8 billion, an increase of 1.3% compared to 2024.<\/p>\n

Noting that the 2025 Budget aims for 2.7% economic growth through approved spending and government investments of OMR 4.4 billion, he added that at OMR 915 million, the Budget records a lower cost of public debt servicing compared to previous budgets.<\/p>\n

He said that public debt stood at OMR 14.4 billion at the end of 2024, noting that Oman is working to lower the budget breakeven price to reduce dependence on oil. The breakeven price for the 2025 Budget is estimated at around USD 65 per barrel, he added.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr Khalid bin Said Al Amri, Chairman of the Oman Economic Association, noted that the 2025 Budget estimates revenues at OMR 11.2 billion, a slight increase compared to 2024, with oil and gas revenues accounting for more than 70% of total revenues.<\/p>\n

Dr Al Amri highlighted that with an allocation of OMR 5 billion in the Budget, social spending makes up 42% of total expenditure. This \u00a0includes education and health projects, such as the construction of over 22 new public schools and various healthcare facilities.<\/p>\n

He noted that the public debt-to-GDP ratio currently stands at 34%, and it is expected to remain within the acceptable range of 35\u201337% in 2025. He said that Oman\u2019s credit rating improved in 2024, and that he hopes for further upgrades from international credit agencies in the coming year.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Economist Dr Youssef bin Ali Al Balushi, said the 2025 Budget is relatively balanced, with a focus on expanding social protection, completing infrastructure and driving investments in various economic fields.<\/p>\n

He said the Budget\u2019s lower public debt servicing costs and Oman\u2019s improved credit rating should \u00a0boost Oman\u2019s economy, particularly by increasing investment inflows.<\/p>\n

He emphasised the need to focus on local investment, the role of the private sector and leveraging Oman\u2019s geographical location, mineral resources and tourism advantages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The consensus is that the budget maintains support for social spending, while reducing the cost of public debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-posts-and-videos","category-trade-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20919"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21398,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20919\/revisions\/21398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fm.gov.om\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}