Oman has the means to maintain its currency peg and has no plans to change it even though the decline in oil prices has hurt its finances, central bank governor Tahir Al Amri said.
Oman's gross foreign currency reserves, which stood at $19.6 billion at the end of January, are enough to cover nearly nine months' worth of imports, Mr Al Amri said in Muscat. Oil remains the country's biggest export and most of its revenue is in US dollars, he added.
“We are strongly behind the peg” despite pressures, Mr Al Amri said. “We will try and make sure that we have ways and means of defending our fixed exchange-rate policy.”
The finances of the Middle East’s biggest non-Opec oil producer, like those of others in the six-nation GCC, were battered after the plunge in crude prices beginning in 2014. With income from exports falling sharply and the budget gap widening, the country borrowed heavily to finance imports and cover outflows from foreign worker remittances.
As a result, government debt-to-GDP rose from 5 per cent in 2014 to 41 per cent at the end of 2017, according to Mr Al Amri.
To help offset the revenue shortfall, the sultanate raised corporate tax to 15 per cent from 12 per cent, increased fees on items such as passports and lowered fuel and electricity subsidies. Taking advantage of attractive interest rates, Oman raised $6.5bn in eurobonds in January, its biggest sale on record. The country plans to impose VAT next year, the governor said.
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Read more:
Oman's economy to accelerate in 2018-19 on energy exports, BMI says
Moody's cuts Oman's rating on fiscal deficit, subdued economic growth
Oman unveils expansionary budget for 2018 with similar deficit to 2017
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The government is trying to make the business environment in Oman more attractive to both locals and foreigners, Mr. Al Amri said. New commercial companies and investment laws are in the pipeline and other legislation, such as a bankruptcy law, is under discussion. The central bank recently expanded banks' abilities to extend credit to the private sector. "There are a lot of initiatives to curtail red tape," he said.
Oman did not scale back infrastructure projects already under way because it thinks they will have a positive impact on the economy, the government said in its bond prospectus in January.
Mr Al Amri said Oman can secure enough funding to cover its external financing needs this year. Bloomberg Economics estimates these at $11.5bn, made up of a $10bn current-account deficit and $1.5bn of debt maturing this year. In 2019, it may continue to draw down on the country’s sovereign wealth fund as a last resort, he said.
The governor said Oman is also in discussions with major international strategic partners to explore ways to deepen financial and commercial transactions. He did not identify those countries but said they were outside the Gulf.
Real GDP growth for 2018 is expected to be at least 3 per cent, according to the budget, which was based on an oil price of $50, he said. Only a small amount of a $10bn 2011 grant offered by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar has been used to finance a few projects, Mr Al Amri said.
“We need to work hard to accelerate the diversification measures. We need to make sure we start doing things differently,” he said. “We are not worried that is not going to happen.”
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final, first leg:
Liverpool 5
Salah (35', 45 1'), Mane (56'), Firmino (61', 68')
Roma 2
Dzeko (81'), Perotti (85' pen)
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
FIXTURES
Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy
Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa
Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand
Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Ramy%3A%20Season%203%2C%20Episode%201
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