Muscat - The Sultanate of Oman will celebrate the anniversary of the accession of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to the power on Thursday, January 11.
In his speech during the opening of the first annual session of the eighth session of the Council of Oman, His Majesty the Sultan affirmed that “the continuous achievements that have been achieved over the past four years in the path of comprehensive development have had the people of Oman’s primary role in it, in addition to the efforts of various state institutions, which have... I worked to implement the plans, the paths of which we charted, according to a vision that aims primarily to advance the social sectors and preserve the gains that have been achieved.”
Economic Growth
Since His Majesty the Sultan assumed the reins of power until now, the Omani economy has witnessed remarkable growth in various fields and the achievement of financial surpluses in the state’s general budget. This contributed to directing additional financial revenues to enhance social spending, stimulate economic growth, manage the lending portfolio, reduce public debt, and develop governorates.
The financial measures and policies taken by the government, such as controlling public spending and improving non-oil revenues, contributed to an improvement in the state’s financial performance during the first three years of the tenth five-year development plan (2021-2025), raising the credit rating and future outlook of the Sultanate of Oman by international credit rating agencies, and attracting more foreign investors.
The preliminary results of the Sultanate of Oman’s financial performance for the year 2023 indicated achieving a financial surplus of about RO931 million, compared to the estimated deficit in the state’s general budget of about RO1. 3 billion.
The state’s public revenues also increased in 2023 to RO12. 213 billion, an increase of about RO2.163 billion compared to what was approved in the budget for the same year, while public spending recorded RO11. 282 billion.
The gross domestic product at constant prices until the third quarter of 2023 grew two percent to reach a value of RO26. 433 million.
This is due to the increase in the added value of non-oil activities at constant prices by 2.7 percent to reach a value of about RO18.190 billion.
The added value of oil activities also increased by 0.5 percent to RO9. 68 million.
The inflation rate in the Sultanate of Oman decreased until the end of November 2023 to about 1.03 percent, as this percentage is considered moderate compared to global inflation indicators. This is due to several measures taken by the government to control inflation rates, especially subsidizing food and fuel products.
The trade balance of the Sultanate of Oman at the end of October 2023 amounted to about RO6.370 billion, while local liquidity in the Sultanate of Oman increased by the end of October 2023 by 10 percent to reach more than RO22 billion.
The Sultanate of Oman advanced 10 places according to the Global Innovation Index report for 2023 issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization, ranking 69th globally out of 132 countries evaluated according to 7 pillars, as the Sultanate of Oman achieved its highest performance in the human capital and research pillars and the infrastructure pillar.
Digital Transformation
The Sultanate of Oman ranked fifth in the Middle East and North Africa and 50th internationally in the Government Readiness for Artificial Intelligence Index, advancing two places from its previous ranking last year. According to the Oxford Insights 2023 report.
The report covers 193 countries and includes 39 indicators in 3 main axes: government, technology sector, data, and infrastructure. The Sultanate of Oman advanced in all of these axes to varying degrees, and the largest increase was in the technology sector axis, with an increase of 2.96 points. Specifically in the innovation capacity index, with more than 6 points.
Social Protection Law
On the social side, with the issuance of Royal Decree No. 52/2023 promulgating the Social Protection Law, social protection benefits will begin to be provided during the current month and one million and 467 thousand citizens will benefit from them, including 167,000 citizens in the elderly benefit category, while the number of beneficiaries
of the childhood benefit reaches RO1, 300,000 children.
The Social Protection Program also provides monthly financial support to people with disabilities in the Sultanate of Oman whose cases require care and support worth 130 Omani Riyals per month to overcome the challenges of disability, whether the causes of disability are from birth or as a result of a symptom.
Thus, the Sultanate of Oman has reached an advanced stage in the development of the social protection system. It includes financial benefits that benefit various segments of society. It constitutes a qualitative leap at the level of legislation and addresses many gaps in retirement programs and the social security system.
The government of the Sultanate of Oman has worked diligently to facilitate access to adequate housing for citizens through several initiatives, most notably the launch of the “Housing” program by providing a loan portfolio worth RO1.9 billion over the next five years to accelerate the provision of financing to applicants on the waiting list at the bank and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, it seeks in its first phase to finance more than 60,000 families over the next five years.
Decentralisation
Under the Renewed Omani Renaissance under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, the Sultanate of Oman achieved tangible transformations that laid their roots towards a balanced development of the governorates. They were consistent with Oman Vision 2040, with its economic and development axis, to establish an ambitious phase of structural transformations towards decentralized local administration by setting an integrated vision to achieve balanced development between regions and governorates. different, and optimal exploitation of natural resources according to the relative advantages of each governorate to contribute to achieving balanced, comprehensive, and sustainable development.
The focus on developing the provinces appeared clearly in the tenth five-year plan, which represented the beginning of the launch of the future vision, and in the speeches of His Majesty the Sultan during his meeting with the sheiks and notables of the provinces, the issuance of the law regarding the provincial system, the continuous increase in financial allocations, and the implementation of development projects in support of the provinces.
Anyone who follows the economic and social development movement in the Sultanate of Oman sees the strategic plans and programs undertaken by the government aimed at achieving the goals of Oman Vision 2040, especially municipal councils and the advancement of its development goals and plans aimed at promoting decentralization. The Sultanate of Oman has paid great attention to these councils due to their pivotal roles. In developing governorates, implementing social and economic priorities, and creating sustainable cities, it issued legislation and regulations regulating the work of these councils.
These councils carry out many tasks with developmental, service, economic, and social dimensions, such as proposing means of investing the governorate’s resources and its needs for public facilities, and development projects, making proposals about the performance of branches of government service units in the governorate, proposing projects related to the development of the governorate’s cities and tourist destinations, and approving the establishment of Cultural, entertainment and tourism festivals, and studying social issues.
The Sultanate of Oman, in its renewed renaissance under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, preserved the principles and tools on which Omani foreign policy was based until Omani political diplomacy became a model to be emulated through its principles based on the principles of good neighborliness, neutrality, and non-interference in the internal affairs of others emphasize the establishment of a fair system for exchanging benefits and interests, establishing the foundations of stability and peace and contributing positively to them, and strengthening international cooperation in various fields.
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