At the start of the decade, Oman was in a dire financial position. In the five years between 2015-2020 it racked up multi-billion-dollar deficits that pushed debt above $50bn to a level of 68% of its GDP. Rating agencies had junked the country’s credit rating and the Covid crisis was set to make things worse (MEES, 8 January 2021).
But since then, Oman has managed to pull out of its spiral of ever-rising debt. Both its medium-term fiscal program and its 10th Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020) focused on cutting back state spending and paying down debt. Muscat shifted spending on its oil and gas sector off its books with the formation of Energy Development Oman (EDO) and the Integrated Gas Company (MEES, 6 January 2023). (CONTINUED - 752 WORDS)
