Oman Beyond the Oil Horizon : Policies Toward Sustainable Growth

Over the last two decades Oman has experienced persistent growth in non-oil GDP, financial stability, confidence in the economy and a stable currency, despite severe external terms-of-trade shocks resulting from sharply lower crude oil export prices in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, this performance, supported in part by an expansionary fiscal policy, has had its cost. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of developments in the Omani economy since 1980 and of the policy challenges the government faces in the medium term, including the potential structural impediments to growth.