文章基本信息

标题：Oil keeps Oman on debt binge with $6.2 billion plan for 2019
本地全文：下载
作者：Zainab Fattah
期刊名称：World Oil Magazine
出版年度：2019
期号：1
页码：1-1
出版社：Gulf Publishing Co.
摘要：NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Oman’s government, whose budget deficit is among the largest of all the sovereigns tracked by Fitch Ratings, will tap capital markets for a fourth straight year to plug a fiscal gap vulnerable to lower oil prices. The Persian Gulf nation is looking to raise $6.2 billion (2.4 billion rials) internationally and at home, according to a state budget plan published on the Oman News Agency. Borrowing will cover 86% of the country’s $746 million (2.8 billion-rial) shortfall, with the remaining $106.6 million (400 million rials) to be drawn from the country’s reserves. After ending a two-decade absence from international capital markets three years ago, Oman has grown increasingly reliant on borrowing and fallen behind on efforts to reform its economy after oil prices collapsed in 2014. As a result, debt as a share of gross domestic product more than tripled to near 50%. The focus on foreign borrowing last year was to “avoid crowding out the private sector in meeting its financing needs, as well as to enhance foreign currency cash flows and reserves,” the Finance Ministry said in the budget statement. The remainder of the 2018 deficit was covered from reserves, it said. The yield on Oman’s debt due 2028 has soared to about 7.5%, the most since the securities were sold in January 2018. Raising funds in the future may get even more expensive after Oman’s sovereign rating was downgraded last month to one level below investment grade by Fitch, which warned that fiscal deficits are leading to a sharp deterioration in its sovereign and external balance sheets. It expects government debt to continue climbing and reach 58% of GDP by 2020 from 48% in 2018. S&P Global Ratings has Oman two levels into junk with a stable outlook, while Moody’s Investors Service puts it at the lowest investment grade with a negative view.