#Oman’s sovereign ratings upgraded; outlook revised to stable

Oman’s sovereign ratings upgraded; outlook revised to stable

Oman’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Long-Term Local Currency Rating (LT LCR) was raised to ‘BB+’ from ‘BB’ by Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings) on Friday. At the same time, CI Ratings has also affirmed the sovereign’s Short-Term FCR (ST FCR) and ST LCR at ‘B’. The Outlook for the ratings has been revised to Stable from Positive.

“The upgrade reflects the continued decline in gross central government debt and CI’s expectation that fiscal and external balances will remain in surplus in 2024-2025, benefitting from favourable hydrocarbon prices and sustained reform momentum,” CI Ratings. Said in a statement on Friday.

“The improvement in the public finances is supported by prudent fiscal and debt management policies. the latter aim to reduce the budget’s vulnerability to fluctuations in oil prices and lower central government debt significantly through the use of recent hydrocarbon windfalls to repay, prepay and buyback expensive external debt,” the international rating agency further said.

“The ratings are also supported by Oman’s commitment to structural reforms as outlined in Oman Vision 2040, as well as the relative soundness of the banking system and CI’s expectation that financial support for the sovereign would be forthcoming from other GCC countries in the event of need,” it further added.