The Sultanate's general budget increased by 58.5% at the end of the third quarter of 2020, reaching OMR 2.4 billion, compared to OMR 1.5 billion in the same  period of 2019, constituting a ratio of 13.5% to the gross domestic product (GDP) at the current prices, according to the data released by the  National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The NCSI report on the Analysis of the Economic Situation in the Sultanate third quarter of 2020 indicates that the total public revenue decreased by 24.4% at the end of the third quarter of 2020, reaching OMR 6 billion, compared to OMR 7.9 billion for the same period of 2019. The total public expenditure decreased by 10.9% to reach OMR 8.5 billion.

The data also show that the GDP at current prices decreased by 16.5%, down from OMR 21.8 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2019 to OMR 18.2 billion in 2020. This decrease is mainly attributed to the decrease in the total value added of oil activities from 7.7 billion Omani riyals at the end of the third quarter of 2019 to 5.8 billion Omani riyals in at the end of the third quarter of 2020.

This decrease in the value added of oil activities is mainly attributed to a decrease in the value added of crude oil by 28.3% and the value added of natural gas by 3.5% to reach 1.15 billion Omani riyals at the end of the third quarter of 2020, compared to 1.19 billion Omani riyals for the same period of the previous year.

The report points out also that the value added of non-oil activities decreased by 12.4% to reach 13.2 billion Omani riyals at the end of the third quarter of 2020. This decrease is attributed to the decrease in value added of industrial activities by 19.8% and those of service activities by 10.6%, while the value added of agricultural and fish field activities increased by 9.8%.

As for the indicators of foreign trade, the NCSI data show that the surplus in trade balance at the end of the third quarter of 2020 decreased by OMR 1.6 billion, compared to the same period of the previous year of 2019 reaching OMR 2.7 billion. The decline in the surplus of trade balance is due to a decline in the value of  merchandise exports by 21.5% at the end of the third quarter of 2020, while the merchandise import value decreased by 11%, reaching OMR 6 billion. 

The monetary situation indicators in the same report of NCSI shows that the total domestic liquidity (M2) at the end of the third quarter of 2020 increased by 11%, reaching OMR 19.3 billion, compared to OMR 17.4 billion in the same period of the previous year of 2019, while the money supply (M1) increased by 13.4%, amounting to OMR 5.7 billion.

Total deposits of the private sector at the end of the third quarter of 2020 increased by 9.5%, reaching OMR 16.4 billion, compared to OMR 15 billion in the same period of 2019.

The total value of loans and financing granted by commercial banks and Islamic windows at the end of the third quarter of 2020 increased by 2.1%, reaching OMR 26.4 billion, compared to OMR 25.9 billion in the same period of 2019. The total value of personal loans in the at the end of the third quarter 2020 also increased by 0.5%, reaching OMR 8.5 billion, where the average of the interest rate on total loans reached 5.5%, compared to 5.4% for the same period of 2019.

The total value of foreign assets in the Central Bank of Oman at the end of the third quarter of 2020 decreased by 1.4%, amounting OMR 6.5 billion, compared to OMR 6.6 billion in the same period of 2019.

The purchasing power of the Omani Rial at the end of the third quarter of 2020 increased by 2%, where the real exchange rate index scored about 104.0 points compared to 106.1 points in the same period of the previous year.