Businesses hail new economic, social incentives
Published: 07:06 AM,Jun 01,2022 | EDITED : 02:06 PM,Jun 01,2022
Muscat: The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) has welcomed the directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik for announcing a number of economic and social initiatives worth RO130 million.
He said the budget surplus achieved due to higher oil prices than what was approved in the budget will be directed towards increasing the pace of growth
He pointed out that the royal directives contribute to economic recovery by increasing spending on development projects, improving investment, and generating more opportunities for private sector institutions.
As per His Majesty the Sultan’s Royal directives to alleviate the direct impact on citizens from financial policies undertaken to run the State’s Fiscal Sustainability Scheme and, in pursuance of support for small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs and, to mitigate the economic impacts of Covid-19, the Council of Ministers presented a number of initiatives and economic and social procedures to the tune of RO 130 million to meet the following objectives:
To provide RO 70 million to enhance financial allocations earmarked for the Housing Assistance Programme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning during the current Five-Year Plan.
♦ To write off outstanding dues of all beneficiaries of the Housing Loans Programme who receive RO 450 monthly salaries (waiver applicable to Omani citizens).
♦ To provide a 15% additional electricity consumption subsidy for subscribers who have two or fewer accounts during the summer months from May to August 2022.
♦ To extend the dispensation of the Occupational Security Benefit till the end of December 2022 for citizens whose services are terminated within the Sultanate of Oman.
♦ To provide an additional package of subsidies in support of small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs, and insolvent persons. To alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the package includes a number of subsidies and payment of overdue of entrepreneurs as follows:
♦ Waivers for borrowers from Oman Housing Bank’s “Emergency Loans Portfolio”.
♦ Waivers for entrepreneurs who are holders of Riyada Card — for beneficiaries of Emergency Loans — issued by the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises. ♦ Waivers for SMEs from fees and fines payable against delays in loans payable to the Lender Portfolio (Al Rafd Fund earlier) until the end of this year (2022). ♦ Waiver for all vehicles (private and commercial) from payment of fines and renewal fees for the years 2020 and 2021.
♦ Payment of overdues of entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs who face prison charges, following persecutions on account of bad cheques (cheques drawn on insufficient funds). ♦ Postponement of lawsuits against individuals/establishments not abiding by provisions of loan agreements signed with the Lenders Portfolio (Al Rafd Fund earlier) until the end of this year (2022).
He said the budget surplus achieved due to higher oil prices than what was approved in the budget will be directed towards increasing the pace of growth
He pointed out that the royal directives contribute to economic recovery by increasing spending on development projects, improving investment, and generating more opportunities for private sector institutions.
As per His Majesty the Sultan’s Royal directives to alleviate the direct impact on citizens from financial policies undertaken to run the State’s Fiscal Sustainability Scheme and, in pursuance of support for small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs and, to mitigate the economic impacts of Covid-19, the Council of Ministers presented a number of initiatives and economic and social procedures to the tune of RO 130 million to meet the following objectives:
To provide RO 70 million to enhance financial allocations earmarked for the Housing Assistance Programme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning during the current Five-Year Plan.
♦ To write off outstanding dues of all beneficiaries of the Housing Loans Programme who receive RO 450 monthly salaries (waiver applicable to Omani citizens).
♦ To provide a 15% additional electricity consumption subsidy for subscribers who have two or fewer accounts during the summer months from May to August 2022.
♦ To extend the dispensation of the Occupational Security Benefit till the end of December 2022 for citizens whose services are terminated within the Sultanate of Oman.
♦ To provide an additional package of subsidies in support of small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs, and insolvent persons. To alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the package includes a number of subsidies and payment of overdue of entrepreneurs as follows:
♦ Waivers for borrowers from Oman Housing Bank’s “Emergency Loans Portfolio”.
♦ Waivers for entrepreneurs who are holders of Riyada Card — for beneficiaries of Emergency Loans — issued by the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises. ♦ Waivers for SMEs from fees and fines payable against delays in loans payable to the Lender Portfolio (Al Rafd Fund earlier) until the end of this year (2022). ♦ Waiver for all vehicles (private and commercial) from payment of fines and renewal fees for the years 2020 and 2021.
♦ Payment of overdues of entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs who face prison charges, following persecutions on account of bad cheques (cheques drawn on insufficient funds). ♦ Postponement of lawsuits against individuals/establishments not abiding by provisions of loan agreements signed with the Lenders Portfolio (Al Rafd Fund earlier) until the end of this year (2022).