Oman is banking on oil prices staying high this year to fund heavy spending on job creation and social welfare, according to plans released.
Finance Minister Darwish Al Balushi told a news conference that Oman, whose revenues come mostly from oil and gas exports, would need an oil price of $104 per barrel in 2013 to balance its state budget.
This ‘break-even’ oil price has been rising since scattered street protests over economic conditions and political issues in 2011 prompted aggressive government spending to head off potential social discontent. Balushi did not give last year’s break-even price, but economists polled by Reuters estimated it at around $83, up from $66 in 2011.
