Public Finance figures recently published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that the general state budget by the end of May 2014 registered a surplus figure of OR551.2m, against a deficit figure of OR-71.6m of the same period in 2013. The total surplus figure recorded by the end of May was OR582.9m against a deficit of OR110.4m recorded over the same period last year.
The report also revealed that Public Sector revenues grew by 0.5% at the end of May 2014, standing at OR6.04bn, when compared to the end of May 2013 figure of OR6.01bn. Over the same period, net Oil revenue declined to OR4.3bn, compared to OR4.5bn over the same period in 2013 representing a decline of 2.6%.
Gas revenue also witnessed a decline to OR594.3m, against OR605.9m over the same period in 2013, representing a year-on-year fall of 1.9%. Meanwhile, revenues from Customs Duties reported a drop of 9.4%, registering a revenue total of OR57.8m by the end of May 2014 versus OR63.8m registered during the same period in 2013. Corporate Income Tax by the end of May 2014 grew to OR362.1m in comparison to the end of May 2013 total of OR313.1m, representing a growth of 15.6%.
Meanwhile, capital revenues witnessed a significant drop of 45.5%, registering a total of OR5.4m by the end of May 2014 when compared with OR9.9m during the same period in 2013. Over the same period, revenue recorded from other sources registered a growth of 21.2% with a total of OR689.4m the end of May 2014 against the end of May 2013 total of OR568.9m.
Furthermore, total public sector spending registered an increase of 8 % by end of May 2014 from OR4.7bn recorded by end of May 2013 to OR5.1bn. The main reason of the increase in the public sector spending is attributed to the 12% increase of current expenditure from OR2.9bn registered by the end of May 2013 to OR3.2bn during the same period in 2014. Investment expenditures also registered a growth of 5.6% with a total of OR1.12bn by the end of May 2014 when compared with OR1.1bn during the same period in 2013. The public sector spending on Participation and Support recorded a decline of 4.3% from a total of OR741.1m by the end of May 2013 to OR709.3m by the end of May 2014.