Oman's Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council has formed a specialised working group to study public spending and the means to reduce it amid the slump in oil prices, said a report.

 

The actions taken by the government to rationalise the spending and to increase non-oil revenues, have contributed to the alleviation of the oil price slump, said the Gulf News report.

 

More precautionary measures will be taken amid the possibility of a further decline of oil prices, it said.

 

The Omani government will apply zero-budgeting in the ninth five-year plan of approving allocations for development projects only after the completion of feasibility studies and real costs of the project.

 

It aims to avoid any additional fund request after starting the implementation of the project.

 

Meanwhile, the annual inflation rate as measured by the change in the average consumer price index in Oman stood at 0.27 per cent from June to July.

 

The sultanate is under pressure to pump more oil to make up for the drop in the price which prompted it to increase the daily production of crude oil and condensate oil last July, said the report.

 

The production exceeded the barrier of one million barrels per day, the highest figure in the history of Oman’s oil production, it added.