Day: May 15, 2023

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has sent a written message to Emir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, which included an invitation for him to participate in the 32nd regular session of the Arab League Council Meeting at summit level.

The summit will take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May this year.

The message was delivered by Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Prince Sultan bin Saad bin Khalid during a meeting he had today with Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

16 quakes were recorded over the past 24 hours, according to the National Earthquake Center.

The center said in a statement that the stations of the Syrian National Seismological Network (SNSN) recorded 7 tremors in Liwa Iskenderun with a magnitude ranging between 1.5 and 2.5, while six tremors were recorded in Turkey with a magnitude ranging between 2.8 and 4.0.

Two weak quakes were also registered in Hama, and a quake 85 km west of Tartous, according to the center.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Moody’s credit rating agency today issued its credit rating report for the Sultanate of Oman, in which it raised the country’s financial status from “Ba3” to “Ba2”, while still maintaining a positive outlook on Oman.

The step comes as a result of the decline in Oman’s indebtedness, as well as the improvement in Oman’s ability to meet its financial obligations during the year 2022.

The agency attributes this improvement both to the increase in public revenues and the tangible efforts made by the government of Oman in controlling financial conditions.

The progress also reflects the soundness of the government’s decision to channel financial surpluses into public debt reduction tracks. It referred to sustainedimprovement in the effectiveness of fiscal policy and the efficiency of financial governance.

In its report, Moody’s stated that government efforts had a tangible impact on maximizing fiscal surpluses. It noted that Oman’s measures led to a 15% decline in total public debt during 2022. It quoted a trend that brought the debts down from 68% in 2020 to 40 percent in 2022 as a ratio of GDP.

The international agency pointed out that the positive future outlook promises sustained amelioration in the public debt reduction rate over the next few years, despite the decline in oil prices, provided that the level of spending is kept under control and that more developed financial measures are endorsed.

In a word of praise, the agency pointed out that, despite having achieved additional financial revenues in 2022, the government of Oman maintained a controlled level of spending.

Moody’s noted that it had made an assessment about the shift in the government’s approach to manage fiscal policy during the period of high oil prices. In this context, the agency stressed the effectiveness of Oman’s fiscal policy. It stressed that this management improved in an unprecedented manner and that it will enhance the credit position of the Sultanate of Oman in the medium term and the long term.

The agency said that the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan and initiatives undertaken by Oman to enhance non-oil revenues contributed to this improvement. From this perspective , the agency commended the removal of expenses associated with the oil sector from the state’s general budget. This measure, it said, would contribute to reducing financial risks that result from fluctuations in oil prices.

The agency projects that oil prices will average between $80 and $85 per barrel during the years 2023 and 2024. It expects that the green hydrogen sector will contribute to cutting down the risks associated with long-term credit rating, due a global trend towards achieving carbon neutrality.

Moody’s affirmed that there is an increasing confidence that 2022 improvement in financial indicators will prevail in the medium term. This, it noted, would contribute to raising credit rating.

Moody’s stressed that Oman’s credit rating is not likely to decline in the near future.

The international agency confirmed that this confidence comes from the government’s continuation of fiscal control measures that led to financial balance and consolidated the country’s ability to address future oil market fluctuations.

Source: Oman News Agency

Syria renewed its support for the struggle of the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights, restore and establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capuital.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of al-Nakba of the Palestinian people, Foreign and Expatriates Ministry twitted that Syria salutes the steadfastness of the resistant Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli killing and terrorism, stressing that the steadfastness of the people of Gaza has not and will not be the last recently.

The Ministry added that Syria calls on the international community and countries that support this occupying entity to assume their responsibilities in condemning and stopping the practices of the Israeli occupation and its criminal attacks on innocent Palestinian citizens, including women, children and the elderly, and holding the perpetrators accountable.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Acting in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and telecommunications operators Omantel and Ooredoo, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has resumed trial runs for the early warning service in coastal areas via mobile phones.

The service, which is the first of its kind in Oman, is introduced in accordance with an approved schedule to detect any major challenges that might obstruct the service in the future.

The service features broadcasting instructions to convey messages of warning against all sorts of dangers such as hurricanes, tsunamis, heavy rains, strong winds and poor horizontal visibility. Four languages have been used in the services. Those language are Arabic, English, Hindi and Urdu.

The experiment was applied in coastal states of South Al Sharqiyah and Al Wusta governorates. It will be applied tomorrow in the Governorate of Muscat. On Wednesday, the trial run will be conducted in Dhofar Governorate. The situation will be assessed and solutions for challenges will be devised later. More experiments will be conducted on 13 and 14 June in the coastal Wilayats of the Governorates of North Al Batinah and South Al Batinah. The experiments will conclude in Musandam Governorate on 15 June 2023.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Sultanate of Oman took part today in the 5th Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), held at The Hague.

The 5-day event is attended by representatives of countries that are part of the CWC.

The Sultanate of Oman’s delegation is headed by Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Salim Al Harthy, Oman’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Further, the conference discussed the role of the CWC in promoting global peace and security. It also reviewed means of achieving the goals of CWC.

The conference also highlighted what was achieved in terms of eliminating chemical weapons and their production facilities, among other topics

Source: Oman News Agency