MUSCAT: Growth of non-oil activities and effective strength of domestic demand and high oil production have boost up Oman’s economy and it could grow by 5 per cent this year, against an estimated 4.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, according to the Ministry of Finance here the other day.
“National economy is expected to continue growth at an acceptable rate, driven by the growth of non-oil activities and effective strength of domestic demand and high oil production,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement, which was released to announce the state budget.
Growth rate of non-oil sector is expected at 5.5 per cent and the main focused areas include construction, electricity and water, trading and manufacturing industries.
The Sultanate’s inflation is also projected to decline to 2 per cent in 2015, mainly on account of a fall in global commodity prices. This is against 2.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent growth in inflation rate in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Budget surplus is expected to decline to 2.9 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 from as high as 8.2 per cent in 2013.
As far as the financial sector is concerned, the Ministry of Finance said that the total bank credit rose 10.5 per cent to OMR16.8 billion in 2014, from OMR15.2 billion in the previous year.
Likewise, total deposits moved up by 14 per cent to OMR17.3 billion by the end of 2014, from OMR15.2 billion for the same period of 2013.
