06 JANUARY 2015Times of Oman
Oman government plans sale of stake to meet OMR2.5 billion deficit
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
1 min read
Oman government is set to divest its stake in several state-owned firms in a move to cover an unprecedented budget deficit of OMR2.5 billion in 2015.
The semi-government or state-owned companies that have been identified for privatisation include Majan Glass, National Aluminium Products Company, and Muscat Electricity Distribution Company.
The government will divest its stakes in these companies either by an initial public offering or selling ownership to strategic partners or a combination of both.
The planned privatisation programme of a number of state-owned firms is under preparation and would be carried out in the next three years (2015-17), after getting necessary approvals, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement.
Apart from borrowing from within the country and outside, disinvestment will generate additional revenue to cover the deficit at a time when the oil prices have touched a five-year low of $56 per barrel.
In fact, there was no urgency for the government to raise funds for meeting expenditure last year in view of high oil prices until the third quarter of 2014, which resulted in a surplus.
The semi-government or state-owned companies that have been identified for privatisation include Majan Glass, National Aluminium Products Company, and Muscat Electricity Distribution Company.
The government will divest its stakes in these companies either by an initial public offering or selling ownership to strategic partners or a combination of both.
The planned privatisation programme of a number of state-owned firms is under preparation and would be carried out in the next three years (2015-17), after getting necessary approvals, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement.
Apart from borrowing from within the country and outside, disinvestment will generate additional revenue to cover the deficit at a time when the oil prices have touched a five-year low of $56 per barrel.
In fact, there was no urgency for the government to raise funds for meeting expenditure last year in view of high oil prices until the third quarter of 2014, which resulted in a surplus.
Unlock full access – sign up for FREE.
Key benefits
Find exclusive data-driven insights and in-depth analysis
Get our daily newsletter delivered straight to your inbox
Access real-time and historical price trends from global indices
Post and respond to latest business leads
Stay ahead with alerts on learning tools
...and so much more!SIGN UP / LOGIN
Tagged with:Middle east and africa
Previous article
Brazil suffers the first trade deficit of $3.93 billion since 1998
Next articleRusal celebrates its 5th anniversary on Hong Kong listings through Facebook
Grow with
AL Circle
