Oil price slump leaves Oman with $6bn in budget deficit

The plunge in the price of oil has left Oman with a multi-billion dollar budget deficit for 2015.

Oman’s Finance Ministry on Thursday announced that it expects a budget deficit of around USD 6.47 billion for 2015 as the country is projected to experience a relatively sharp fall in its oil income.

Oman is the latest in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf to officially admit that its finances have been affected by the recent slump in the price of crude oil.

The oil-rich sultanate, however, has announced a 4.5-percent rise in its projected expenditures for 2015, although the revenues, of which 79 percent is from oil, are set to decline.

A statement by Finance Ministry said the projected deficit forces the government to continue taking measures to maintain the financial stability in the country. However, the statement asserted that the measures would have no impact on the economic standards in the country.

Oman produces around one million barrels of oil per day. Unlike many other Persian Gulf countries, it is not a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).