Sunday 21 / June / 2026
Muscat: The Ministry of Finance announced on Sunday the final account of the actual performance results of the State's General Budget for the fiscal year 2025. The results closely aligned with the approved estimates at the beginning of the same year; public revenues were estimated at approximately OMR11.180 billion, and public spending was estimated at about OMR11.800 billion, resulting in an estimated projected deficit of around OMR620 million.
The actual financial performance of the State's General Budget for 2025 indicated an 8 percent increase in public revenues compared to the approved budget estimates, reaching OMR12.122 billion. This increase is attributed to the rise in oil and gas revenues.
Conversely, the actual public spending volume by the end of 2025 witnessed a 7 percent increase, recording approximately OMR12.583 billion. This was driven by increased social spending and support aimed at stimulating economic activity, which included an increase in subsidies for petroleum products, support for the electricity sector, and a rise in development spending to accelerate the pace of work on ongoing developmental projects.
As a result, the realised deficit decreased by 26 percent compared to the approved budget, amounting to approximately OMR461 million.
Regarding oil revenues, the State's General Budget at the end of 2025 recorded an 11 percent increase in total oil revenues (oil and gas) compared to the approved budget, amounting to approximately OMR8.481 billion. Net oil revenues during 2025 reached about OMR6.640 billion, rising by 14 percent from the net oil revenues estimated in the 2025 budget of roughly OMR5.830 billion. This is attributed to the increase in average oil prices in global markets, as the average realised oil price reached approximately $72 per barrel, compared to the approved price of $60 per barrel in the 2025 budget.
The average production of oil and oil condensates reached about 999,000 barrels per day, compared to the budget estimate of approximately 1,001,000 barrels per day. This confirms the government's commitment to the voluntary reduction mandated by the Opec Plus organisation.
Net gas revenues amounted to about OMR1.841 billion, recording a 4 percent increase compared to the approved budget estimates of approximately OMR1.777 billion. This is attributed to the rise in the average selling price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from $5.41 to about $7.49.
Total non-oil revenues by the end of 2025 reached approximately OMR3.641 billion, an increase of OMR68 million compared to the approved budget. This encompasses about OMR3.602 billion in current revenues and approximately OMR39 million in capital revenues and recoveries.
On the spending side, current expenditures increased by 2 percent by the end of 2025, recording about OMR8.726 billion compared to the approved 2025 budget of roughly OMR8.555 billion. Defence and security expenditures accounted for about OMR3.066 billion, civil ministries' expenditures stood at roughly OMR4.780 billion, and public debt service amounted to about OMR880 million.
Total development expenditures for ministries and civil government units, along with expenditures for projects with a developmental impact, surged by 38 percent, registering about OMR1.577 billion compared to the approved 2025 budget. This is attributed to the increased financial liquidity allocated to the development budgets of government units and governorates for 2025 in order to accelerate the implementation of development projects approved in the Tenth Five-Year Development Plan (2021-2025).
Spending on the infrastructure sector accounted for about 43 percent of the total actual development spending for 2025. This was followed by spending on the social infrastructure sector at 40 percent, the service production sector at 12 percent, and the commodity production sector at 5 percent of the total actual development spending for the year.
Total contributions and other expenses reached approximately OMR2.280 billion, rising by 8 percent compared to the approved budget of about OMR2.105 billion. This increase is due to higher expenses in certain areas, most notably subsidies for petroleum products, which amounted to OMR124 million compared to the approved budget of about OMR35 million. Furthermore, electricity sector subsidies reached approximately OMR606 million, representing an increase of OMR86 million compared to the approved figures. This comes in implementation of the Royal Orders to fix fuel selling prices.
The State's General Budget by the end of 2025 officially recorded a financial deficit of about OMR461 million, compared to the estimated budget deficit of roughly OMR620 million, as a result of the increase in oil revenues.
Total public debt by the end of 2025 stood at roughly OMR14.6 billion, a decrease of about OMR15 million compared to 2024, while simultaneously meeting all financing needs and executing liability management operations without any increase in total debt.
Zaher Marhoon Al Abri, Director General of the Directorate General of Treasury and Accounts at the Ministry of Finance, pointed out that the actual performance of the State's General Budget was closely aligned with the approved budget. This alignment reflects the accuracy of financial planning and the realism of the assumptions upon which the approved budget estimates were based, in addition to the governmental efforts exerted to enhance spending efficiency and manage public finances competently.
In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), he affirmed that the Ministry of Finance continues to evaluate financial performance and is working in coordination with various government entities to enhance the efficiency of government spending and diversify sources of public revenues in order to achieve the targets of Oman Vision 2040.
