Oman has suffered a sharp decline in its total actual revenues, falling a staggering twenty percent to $22.1 billion in 2020.
The fall is being blamed on the Covid restrictions and a drop in oil prices. Actual revenues totaled RO 8.503 billion last year, registering a shortfall of RO 2.196 billion from budgeted revenues.
Contributing to the decline, the ministry said, was an RO 1.902 billion shortfall fall in oil and gas revenues, primarily as oil prices averaged $47.6 per barrel down from the assumed price of $58 per barrel in the 2020 Budget. In comparison, oil prices averaged $65.24 per barrel in 22019, the Ministry noted.
Current expenditures, on the other hand, totaled RO 9.467 billion in 2020, which was lower by RO 363 million on account of cost-cutting measures and reforms introduced by the government to reduce the deficit for the year.
The actual deficit by the end of 2020 climbed to RO 4.5 billion, representing an increase of 77 per cent over a deficit of RO 2.5 billion estimated in the budget.