Oman, the Middle East’s biggest oil producer outside OPEC, will spend $4.95 billion on investment projects in 2023, Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund has announced.
The investments will include about 65 new and existing projects in sectors including logistics, food and fisheries, energy, mining, services, and communications and IT, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing local media reports.
The OIA said financing for the investment projects will come from the local and foreign private sector, from financing institutions, or from the agency itself or its subsidiaries.
The sovereign wealth fund also expects to exit eight investments in 2023, with estimated returns exceeding half a billion rials. Three of the investments are in the energy sector, three are in the aviation, industry and tourism sectors, while the remaining two are in the communications and information technology sector.
Oman recently posted a budget surplus of more than $3.11 billion in the first 10 months of 2022, compared with a deficit of about 1 billion rials in the same period a year ago, driven by higher oil revenue.