Oman’s government repaid RO511mn worth of loans during January 2023, reducing the country’s total debt to RO17.2bn, the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday. ‘During the month of January 2023, total repaid loans amounted to RO511mn which primarily constituted of RO480mn maturing international bonds. This has contributed towards reducing the total government debt to RO17.2bn at the end of January,’ the ministry said in its Fiscal Performance Bulletin.

The sultanate’s government recorded a budget surplus of RO145mn in January this year as compared to a surplus of RO18mn in the same period of 2022, the ministry’s data showed. Since the beginning of 2022, Oman’s public finances has benefited from higher oil prices and government’s fiscal reforms, allowing the sultanate to reduce its public debt. With major improvements in its fiscal performance, the government was able to pay off part of its public debt and manage the loan portfolio by the end of 2022. This contributed to reducing the total volume of public debt from RO20.8bn by the end of 2021 to RO17.

7bn at the end of 2022. As a result, Oman’s public debt ratio decreased in 2022 to about 43 per cent of the GDP compared to 83 per cent of GDP estimated in the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan. The International Monetary Fund recently acknowledged that high oil prices and fiscal consolidation measures have improved Oman’s fiscal and external balances considerably. Helped by strong economic growth and improved fiscal position due to the government’s fiscal reforms and higher oil prices, the sultanate’s sovereign credit ratings were upgraded by various global rating agencies in 2022.