Arab News, Wed, Jun 05, 2024 | Dhu al-Qadah 28, 1445
Oman Investment Authority’s assets surge to hit $49.9bn in 2023
Oman:
Total assets of Oman’s sovereign wealth fund increased by an estimated 7.4
percent year on year to reach 19.24 billion Omani rials ($49.9 billion) in 2023,
according to new figures.
A report issued by the Oman Investment Authority
revealed that the return on investment for 2023 stood at 9.95 percent, the body
said in a post on X.
The rise in numbers underscores the authority’s
role in driving economic growth and stability within the Middle Eastern
country.
Moreover, the robust performance reflects the
OIA’s strategic investment approach and effective management of its diverse
portfolio.
This aligns with the authority’s objective to
manage and develop the country’s funds and assets, achieve financial reserves,
and implement government policies to advance the targeted economic sectors.
During its media meeting on Tuesday in Muscat, the
entity confirmed that it will continue supplying the state’s general budget with
amounts exceeding 6 billion rials from 2016 until the end of 2023.
The post also revealed that the OIA aims to
diversify its new foreign and local investments both geographically and across
various sectors.
Additionally, it plans to connect some foreign
investments to targeted local industries by transferring technology and modern
techniques.
The authority also clarified that the private
markets sector of the Al-Ajyal portfolio, which manages the OIA’s investments
abroad, has invested in 13 global funds operating in multiple
sectors. This comes in addition to its entry into various direct investments.
It further indicated that the public markets
sector of the Al-Ajyal portfolio continues to invest in a number of countries
around the world, achieving an average return of 9.8 percent, therefore
exceeding the target rate of 5 percent.
The authority listed Electric Hydrogen, the
Australian company Hysata, and the American firm Our Next Energy, as well as the
Platinum investment fund, the Global Infrastructure Fund, and the Chinese
Fund, as its most prominent direct foreign investments.
In August 2023, Finance Minister Sultan bin Salim
Al-Habsi, also the chairman of the authority, said: “OIA is not immune to the
impact of world events, but they did not pose an obstacle to our ongoing journey
toward growing Oman’s economy and achieving financial sustainability.”