Oman’s January revenues increase 17%

Government revenues in the Sultanate rose by 17 per cent during January 2013 to OMR1.05 billion against OMR903.4 million during the same period in 2012. The monthly statistical bulletin issued by the National Statistics Centre (NSC) attributed this to a 14.4 per cent rise in the Sultanate's net oil revenues, which stood at OMR926.1 million at the end of January 2013 against OMR809.5 million during the corresponding period in 2012, and a 7.3 per cent rise in gas revenues to OMR92.5 million, as opposed to OMR86.2 million at the end of January 2012. Additionally, the government's total general expenditures rose by 46.4 per cent during January 2013 to OMR639 million against OMR436.4 million during the same period in 2012. The bulletin pointed out that the rise in the general expenditure resulted from a 13.9 per cent increase in current expenditures, which stood at OMR485.6 million against OMR426.3 million during the corresponding period in 2012. Also, the State's General Budget surplus recorded a surplus of OMR398.5 million during January 2013 against a surplus of OMR466.9 million during the corresponding period in 2012.