By Vinod Nair — MUSCAT: May 20 - Businesspersons in Oman say there is not much to be prepared for the lean summer months with the start of Ramadhan and school vacation. With the advancement of Ramadhan (likely from next weekend), there is hope that businesses and activities will pick up towards the end of August, a month earlier than the last two years. At the same time, analysts unanimously vote for consumer confidence to pick up if all the recently announced projects in tourism, real estate and healthcare sectors take off on schedule. “Generally, this year started on the slower side, so we hope things will get better in the second half,” said an official associated with a leading retail chain.
“As usual, we come up with promotions and raffle draws to attract people who will stay back in the country, especially during Ramadhan,” he said.
According to analysts, oil prices rose after the output cut decision late last year, but that confidence has been slightly dented after prices started going below $50 again.
“Business in Oman has shown resilience despite challenges, especially the medium-sized companies that have to share the same market floor with the bigger players,” said a senior economist.
“There have been lots of project announcements on which work is expected to start by the year-end both in the tourism and housing sectors, not to forget the announcements made in the real estate sector. Unless projects move out of the boardrooms, people will continue to keep their fingers crossed,” he said.
According to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the properties issued up to
April 2017 declined by nearly five per cent compared with the same period last year.
The total trade value in the property sector is down by 77 per cent and the property issued for the GCC dropped by 80 per cent, with only 146 transactions as against 737 in 2016.
But the law to allow expatriates to own property in Oman outside the tourism complexes will be a game-changer if it comes through.
Currently, nearly 41 per cent of the population buy property under their names in the open market. “According to Mohammed bin Salim al Busaidy, a Majlis Ash’shura member, “We must encourage expatriates to invest their savings here and it will be a major boost to the national economy.”
Real estate brokers said the time has come for this market to open up with adequate safeguards. “It is a capital intensive industry, which will bring more spending population to the country and help a number of Omani real estate entrepreneurs,” he said. Also on the positive side, there has been a 7.2 per cent increase in the total revenue of the hotel sector (3-5 stars) up to the end of March 2017 compared with the same period in 2016 from 430,000 tourists, an 18 per cent increase.
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