In order for member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) to better the sectors of their economies that are struggling, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) supports the countries in their privatization programs.
Sultanate
Oman is a part of the members who received a newly published documents with recommendations
on “Learning to Live with Cheaper Oil: Policy Adjustment in Oil-Exporting
Countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.”
Many of the GCC states, including Oman, have plans to
privatize state-owned enterprises as a way to rebuild poor economies. The IMF
believes that plan could possibly improve productivity and efficiency, while
simultaneously increasing revenue for economic deficits.
“Implementation has often moved slowly, particularly in GCC
countries where supporting institutional frameworks have sometimes been
lacking, and where privatization programs have often focused on
already-successful enterprises,” according to the IMF paper. “Nonetheless, GCC
divesture programs have, in the past, managed to generate significant receipts
from only a handful of high value operations.”
