Oman's public revenues rise 13% in Q1; spending up 9%

19/05/2026 04:57 AST

Oman's public revenues increased by 13% in the first quarter of 2026 to RO2.985bn, compared with RO2.635bn during the same period last year, mainly driven by higher net oil revenues.

According to the Fiscal Performance Bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance, net oil revenues rose by 5% to RO1.535bn in the January-March period this year, compared with RO1.468bn in the first quarter of 2025.

The average oil price at which Oman sold its crude oil during the first quarter stood at around $64 per barrel, while average daily oil production reached approximately 1.025mn barrels per day. The ministry attributed this to Energy Development Oman's (EDO) methodology for oil revenue collection and cash liquidity management.

Net gas revenues recorded a stronger increase of 36%, reaching around RO593mn in the first quarter of 2026, compared with RO436mn in the corresponding period of 2025.

Meanwhile, current revenues collected by the end of the first quarter rose by 13%, or around RO92mn, to RO817mn, against RO725mn during the same period last year.

Q1 spending rises to RO3.01bn
The bulletin also revealed that public spending during the first quarter of 2026 increased by 9% to approximately RO3.010bn, compared with actual spending of RO2.771bn in the corresponding period of 2025.

Of the total public spending, current expenditures stood at RO2.119bn, up by around RO152mn from RO1.967bn in the first quarter of 2025.

Development expenditure for ministries and government civil units amounted to RO334mn, representing a spending rate of around 26% of the total development allocation for 2026, which stands at RO1.3bn.

Total contributions and other expenditures reached approximately RO417mn during the first quarter of the year, compared with RO490mn in the same period of 2025.

Subsidies for the social protection system, the electricity sector and petroleum products amounted to approximately RO154mn, RO80mn and RO17mn, respectively, by the end of the first quarter of 2026. In addition, transfers to the debt repayment provision item reached RO75mn.

The bulletin further noted that, by the end of the first quarter, the Ministry of Finance had paid more than RO362mn in dues to the private sector for payment vouchers received through the financial system that had completed their documentary cycle.

Public debt stood at approximately RO14.5bn at the end of the first quarter of 2026, remaining stable compared with the end of 2025, while reflecting a 2% increase from RO14.3bn recorded at the end of the corresponding quarter of 2025.

Muscat Daily