RIYADH: Oman Investment Authority, the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, aims to spend 1.9 billion rials ($4.95 billion) on investment projects in 2023, state media reported on Tuesday. The OIA said the financing will come from the local and foreign private sectors, from financing institutions, or from the agency itself or its subsidiaries. Investment The OIA has also reportedly joined a group of foreign investors to invest $214 million in Group14 Technologies, a battery materials manufacturing company based in the US. Group14 develops lithium-silicon battery materials and aims to replace the standard lithium-ion batteries. According to a Fast Company report, Group14 has stated that it had secured a total of $614 million in its Series C investment round with the latest funding infusions. Some of the key investors in Group14 Technologies include SK Materials and Porsche. The report stated that OIA intends to incorporate Oman into the firm’s worldwide supply chain through its investment in Group14 Technologies. The firm also added that the consortium behind the recent additional funding included Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, Moore Strategic Ventures, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, and Molicel. State budget The state’s general budget for 2023 will be approved at an oil price of $55 per barrel, local media reported quoting a Finance Ministry statement on Tuesday. The ministry estimates that the 2023 budget deficit will amount to about 1.3 billion rials, constituting 11 percent of total revenues and 3 percent of the gross domestic product. Preliminary estimates for the 2023 budget show that total public spending is estimated at 12.950 billion rials, up by 7 percent from the approved spending in the 2022 budget.