Oman’s ruler has moved to overhaul the Gulf Arab state’s creaking finances since taking power this year but the coronavirus crisis is likely to delay deeper reforms needed to shore up the economy at a time of low oil prices.
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council
in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman piled up debt at breakneck speed in the past few years, while plans to diversify the small oil producer’s economy and introduce sensitive tax and subsidies reform dragged under Sultan Qaboos who died in January after half a century in power.
New ruler Sultan Haitham has shaken up the government and state entities, and this week approved introducing value-added-tax in April in a sign to investors - ahead of an international bond sale - that he is open to reforms in a country that saw Arab Spring-like protests in 2011.
“This government has to take the tough decisions,” World Bank Gulf country director Issam Abousleiman said.
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