Monday, 10 August 2009 at 13:16, Reuters, Muscat
Oman has raised spending on infrastructure and oil production projects by 5.3 percent to 3.23 bn rials ($8.4 bn) in the first six months of 2009, the national economy ministry said on Monday.
Spending on infrastructure projects rose 25 percent to 539.1 mln rials while expenditure for oil climbed 18 percent to 358.9 mln rials year on year, ministry figures showed.
State spending on defence and security edged up 1.4 percent but the Gulf Arab state cut back on subsidies to the private sector by 23 percent.
Total revenues dropped 21.3 percent to 3.24 bn rials in the first half of the year as oil export earnings slumped 33 percent to 1.8 bn rials, according to the ministry's data.
Oman, a non-OPEC oil exporter, has projected a budget deficit of 810 mln rials in 2009, based on an oil price at $45 a barrel. Crude prices have recovered from lows around $32 a barrel in December to around $70.
Oman eked out a tiny budget surplus in the first five months of the year despite a more than 30 percent decline in oil revenues over the same period, official data showed in July.
Gulf states have seen revenues fall with the slump in oil prices from a peak near $150 in July 2008, prompting some in the world' top oil exporting region to face rare budget deficits.
The Gulf Arab state pumps around 790,000 barrels per day and says it is targeting output of 800,000 bpd in 2009.
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