Middle Eastern nation Oman recorded a 784 million rials ($2 billion) budget surplus for the first six months of 2022. This significant margin was largely driven by higher sales of oil and natural gas. Crude oil revenue was 3.19 billion rials, while gas revenue stood at 1.73 billion.
The second quarter was particularly busy for Oman, as revenue surged by 54% while spending increased by 8.6%. Total revenue for the period came to 6.7 billion rials, while spending reached 5.9 billion rials.
Oman’s oil revenues were largely fueled by the price hike that was influenced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine; a conflict that pushed the price of crude above break-even level for a large array of the Middle East’s producers. With prices remaining high, even some of the weaker economies were able to realize a surplus.
In addition to favorable oil and natural gas sales conditions, Oman has implemented several policy reforms aimed at reducing expenses while expanding the country’s surplus. These include the introduction of value-added tax and the use of additional income from oil and gas price increases to pay off its public debt and boost spending on developmental projects.