Oman's public revenues rise 13% to RO6.6bn in H1 2026

24/08/2026 04:51 AST

Oman's public revenues rose 13% in the first half of 2026 to approximately RO6.602bn, compared with RO5.839bn during the corresponding period of 2025, mainly driven by higher oil revenues, according to the Fiscal Performance Bulletin issued by the Ministry of Finance on Sunday.

Net oil revenues increased 10% to approximately RO3.332bn in the first half of 2026, compared with RO3.018bn a year earlier, reflecting higher oil prices and increased production this year.

The realised average oil price stood at $74 per barrel, while average daily oil production reached 1.074mn barrels per day during January-June period of 2026, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Finance.

Net gas revenues recorded stronger growth, rising 32% to RO1.164bn in the first half of this year from RO884mn in the corresponding period of 2025.

Current revenues collected by the end of the first half rose 6% to RO2.045bn, compared with RO1.928bn in the same period last year.

Public spending up 9%
Total public expenditure reached approximately RO6.619bn in the six months ended June 2026, an increase of RO521mn, or 9%, from RO6.098bn in the same period last year. The increase was attributed to higher current and development expenditure, the Ministry of Finance noted.

Current expenditure increased by approximately RO251mn to RO4.369bn this year, compared with RO4.118bn at the end of first half of 2025.

Development expenditure by ministries and civil government units reached RO798mn by the end of June 2026, including RO146mn allocated to economic transformation projects. The disbursement represented approximately 61% of the total development expenditure budget for 2026, which stands at RO1.3bn.

Total contributions and other expenditures amounted to RO1.132bn by the end of the first half of 2026, down approximately RO29mn, or 3%, from RO1.161bn in the same period of 2025.

Subsidies allocated to the social protection system amounted to approximately RO323mn, while RO288mn was allocated to the electricity sector and RO162mn to oil products by the end of Q2 2026. In addition, RO150mn was transferred to the budget item for future debt obligations.

Public debt stands at RO14.1bn
The Ministry of Finance's bulletin noted that Oman's total public debt stood at RO14.16bn at the end of the second quarter of 2026, compared with RO14.12bn in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a marginal increase of approximately 0.3%.

By the end of June 2026, the Ministry of Finance had paid more than RO915mn to the private sector through the financial system against fully documented dues.

The ministry said the payments reflected its commitment to settling fully documented private sector dues within an average of five working days.

Muscat Daily