RIYADH: Oman’s public revenue declined by 17 percent to 9.8 billion Omani rials ($25.46 billion) in October, as reported by the Ministry of Finance. The fiscal performance bulletin issued by the ministry indicated that the state’s public revenue in October 2022 was 11.86 billion rials. Furthermore, the bulletin outlined that the net oil revenue in October amounted to 5.4 billion rials, a 12 percent decrease compared to 6.19 billion rials in the year-ago period. The average oil price was $81 per barrel, with an average oil production of 1.05 million barrels per day. Additionally, net gas revenue at the end of October 2023 amounted to 1.7 billion rials, representing a decrease of 43 percent compared to 3 billion rials registered over the same period in 2022. This decline is attributed to the deduction of gas purchase and transport expenses from the total revenue collected from Integrated Gas Co. The removal of gas purchase and transport expenses from the state’s general budget, transferred to Integrated Gas Co., resulted in current expenditure at the end of October 2023 amounting to 6.8 billion rials. This figure reflects a decrease of 1 billion rials compared to the 7.8 billion rials registered in 2022. By the end of October 2023, current revenue registered 2.6 billion rials, up by 14 million rials compared to the 2.5 billion rials collected over the year-ago period. Furthermore, public spending amounted to 8.9 million rials by the end of October 2023, constituting a fall of 1.6 billion rials, a 16 percent decrease compared to actual spending over the same period in 2022. Regarding the development expenditure of civil ministries and government units, the amount reached 770 million rials by the end of October 2023, representing 86 percent of the total development spending of the 900 million rials allocated for 2023. By the end of October 2023, the total contributions and other expenses amounted to 1.3 billion rials, down by 16 percent compared to the 1.5 million rials registered in October 2022. Moreover, the state’s general budget registered a surplus of 830 million rials at the end of October 2023, compared to a surplus of 1.2 billion rials achieved over the same period in 2022.