Optimism prevailed in the Omani economic circles, after Sultan Haitham bin Tariq issued a decree establishing the Omani Investment Authority.
According to the decree, the agency owns and manages the sovereign wealth funds and assets of the Ministry of Finance, as well as the investments of the state general reserve fund and the Oman Investment Fund.
The agency - the largest government investment arm in the history of the Sultanate - includes a number of funds and assets, the amount of its investments currently exceed, according to government statistics, $ 45 billion.
This comes amid hopes for a rebalancing of investments, as the state’s general reserve fund allocated more than 80% of it abroad.
Economists believe that the new investment body will contribute to translating Sultan Haitham bin Tariq's policies regarding the country's future into reality.
The new decisions of the Omani government come in light of many economic challenges due to the persistence of the Corona pandemic crisis. The Sultanate had approved incentive measures for the local economy by about 21 billion dollars to counter the impact of the pandemic.
This comes at a time when a statement issued by the government media office in the Sultanate of Oman stated that Sultan Haitham bin Tariq ordered, on Sunday, the formation of a committee to deal with the economic repercussions of the Corona virus pandemic. Oman has been hit hard by the pandemic and by falling oil prices.
The statement said that the committee, which will be chaired by the Minister of Interior, will consider returning quickly to resume economic activities.