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/File Photo
Dubai: Oman's Sultan has approved a medium-term fiscal plan to make government finances sustainable, state media said on Thursday, as the coronavirus crisis and low oil prices batter state coffers.
The Gulf oil producer has long had plans to reform its economy, diversify revenues and introduce sensitive tax and subsidies reform.
HM Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, approved a 2020-2024 fiscal plan that included increasing government income from non-oil sectors, state media reported, citing orders from the Sultan.
Oman will also accelerate the establishment of a social security system for low-income citizens who may be affected by the government's drive to bring down the country's debt and cut state spending, one of the orders said.
Sultan also ordered 371 million Omani rials ($964 million) of unspecified development projects to be carried out across the country.
On Wednesday it raised $2 billion in its first international bond sale since July 2019.
