Oman Sees Only Brief Relief From Budget Cuts, Plans New Policies

Oman’s government is devising new policies to ensure financial stability since spending cuts taken so far to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will only bring temporary relief, a Finance Ministry official said.

A decline in oil revenue will raise the projected deficit by the end of the year in spite of savings of 500 million rials ($1.3 billion) from lower expenditure, Khalid Al Busaidi, a financial policy official at the ministry, was cited as saying by state-run Oman News Agency. He didn’t specify what new policies the sultanate is considering.