According to the Ministry of Finance's financial performance bulletin, the state's total public revenues experienced a decline of approximately 9% until the end of February 2024. The recorded amount was around RO 1.958 billion, compared to RO 2.148 billion in the same period of 2023. This decrease can be primarily attributed to the decline in net oil and gas revenues.
The bulletin further highlighted that net oil revenues until the end of February 2024 decreased by 4%, amounting to about RO 1.102 billion. This is in comparison to RO 1.153 billion by the end of February 2023. The average realized oil price was around $86 per barrel, with an average daily oil production quantity of approximately 1.024 million barrels.
In terms of net gas revenues, there was a significant decrease of about 46% by the end of February 2024, recording around RO 281 million compared to the same period in 2023. This decline can be attributed to a change in the methodology of gas revenue collection.
On a positive note, current revenues collected until the end of February 2024 witnessed an increase of about RO 102 million, reaching around RO 573 million. This is in comparison to the collection of RO 471 million in the same period of 2023. The primary reason for this increase is the receipt of profits from the Investment Authority, amounting to approximately RO 200 million, which was received in January of the previous year.
As for public expenditure, the total amount by the end of February 2024 was around RO 1.751 billion. This reflects a decrease of RO 25 million, or 1%, from the actual spending in the same period of 2023.
In February 2024, civilian ministries' current expenditures decreased to around RO 1.277 billion from around RO 1.294 billion in February 2023. Developmental expenditures for civil ministries and units were around RO 93 million, representing 10 percent of the total allocated developmental liquidity for 2024, which is around RO 900 million.
Total contributions and other expenses increased to around RO 231 million, a 75 percent rise from RO 132 million in the same period of 2023. Support for the social protection system and oil products totaled around RO 93 million and RO 44 million respectively, while the transfer to debt repayment was around RO 66 million.
By the end of February 2024, the state's general budget showed a financial surplus of around RO 207 million, down from RO 372 million in the same period of 2023.
