His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the Supreme Commander, will preside on Monday over the military parade, to be staged at Al Sumoud Ground of the Sultan's Special Force on the occasion of the 54th Glorious National Day.
Symbolic units representing the Royal Army of Oman (RAO), the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), the Royal Guard of Oman (RGO), the Sultan's Special Force (SSF), the Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Royal Court Affairs (RCA), and the joint military musical band will take part in the military parade.
His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has received cables of greetings on the occasion of the 54th Glorious National Day from kings, leaders, crown princes, heads of states, organisations and senior officials from various Arab and foreign countries.
In their cables, the well-wishers expressed their heartfelt sentiments and best wishes of good health, happiness, and long life to His Majesty the Sultan. They prayed to Allah the Almighty to grant His Majesty success to achieve aspirations of further progress and prosperity.
His Majesty the Sultan has also received greetings from HH Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, HH Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs, Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal al Busaidy, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, Gen Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani, Minister of the Royal Office, Shaikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al Khalili, Chairman of the State Council, Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of Majlis Ash’shura, Lt Gen Hasan bin Mohsin al Shraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs, and Lt Gen Said bin Ali al Hilali, Head of the Internal Security Service.
His Majesty has also received greetings on this glorious anniversary from members of the Royal Family, ministers, commanders of the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF), the Royal Oman Police (ROP), and other security units, members of the State Council and the Majlis Ash'shura, under-secretaries, Omani ambassadors, shaikhs, dignitaries, and loyal citizens. They expressed their sentiments and best wishes on this dear occasion, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty and grant him success.
Meanwhile, the Sultanate of Oman will today celebrate the 54th Glorious National Day, marking milestone accomplishments in different areas. The citizens of Oman and various state institutions have rendered an indispensable contribution to the continuous achievements in the path of the comprehensive development during the renewed renaissance of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who has outlined a wise and sound vision that leads to progress and prosperity in all fields.
His Majesty’s directives to all state institutions to continue improving the missions entrusted to them and to develop appropriate conditions to upgrade performance at all levels have contributed positively over the past five years to achieving success in various targets of Oman Vision 2040.
The government of His Majesty the Sultan has managed to improve the state’s economic and financial performance, reduce debt and increase the gross domestic product; as the state’s public revenue at the end of August 2024 amounted to RO 8.106 billion, up by RO 183 million compared to RO 7.923 billion registered over the same period in 2023. The state’s general budget until August 2024 achieved a surplus of about RO 447 million, while the public debt portfolio declined by the end of June 2024 to RO 14.4 billion, compared to RO 20.8 billion in 2021.
The Sultanate of Oman also launched this year the social protection system by unifying and merging pension funds, and restructuring the schemes.
Oman succeeded in reducing the ratio of public debt to GDP from 62.3 per cent in 2021 to 35 per cent in mid-2024 and achieving a budget surplus for consecutive years, recording 2.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
This has led to a remarkable improvement in the credit rating of the Sultanate of Oman by credit rating agencies, as Standard and Poor’s raised its second credit rating for the Sultanate of Oman to “BBB-” from “BB+” with a stable outlook. Further, Moody’s revised its outlook for the Sultanate of Oman from a stable to a positive, confirming the credit rating at “Ba1”.
These ratings affirm that the Sultanate of Oman is a safe investment environment, as it returned to this rating category after a decline of nearly seven years (since 2017) due to the repercussions of the crises resulting from the slump in global oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moreover, the Sultanate of Oman has also advanced in many international indicators, as it rose 39 ranks in the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom issued by the Heritage Foundation to obtain the 56th place globally after being ranked 95th globally in 2023. In the Entrepreneurship Index, it came in the 11th place globally, advancing 27 places from its ranking in 2022/2023. It also came in the 50th place globally in the Environmental Performance Index after being ranked 149th in the 2022 ranking.
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