Oman's SWF Says Total Assets Reach $46.61 bln in 2022

More than 800 jobs have been created for Omanis in the agency and its subsidiaries (Oman News Agency)
More than 800 jobs have been created for Omanis in the agency and its subsidiaries (Oman News Agency)
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Oman's SWF Says Total Assets Reach $46.61 bln in 2022

More than 800 jobs have been created for Omanis in the agency and its subsidiaries (Oman News Agency)
More than 800 jobs have been created for Omanis in the agency and its subsidiaries (Oman News Agency)

Total assets at Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, the Oman Investment Authority, reached 17.9 billion rials ($46.6 billion) in 2022, the fund said in its annual report on Wednesday.

The OIA said its return on investment last year was 8.8%, and it added that it has contributed more than 5 billion riyals to the finance ministry in dividends to support the general budget.

Among its major assets, the OIA wholly owns Oman’s main energy holding company OQ, created to centralize the state’s oil and gas investments, Reuters reported.

OQ’s 2022 revenue was up 68% on the previous year, leading to a 100% increase in net profit last year, the fund wrote in the report, without providing further financial details.

The OIA said in December it aimed to spend 1.9 billion rials on investment projects in 2023.

It has recently partnered with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, to jointly invest in Oman’s economy.



World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The World Bank announced on Thursday that it was redirecting funds originally earmarked for development programs in Lebanon towards emergency aid for people displaced by Israeli bombardment of the country.

"The World Bank is activating emergency response plans to be able to repurpose resources in the portfolio to respond to the urgent needs of people in Lebanon," said a statement from the US-based multilateral institution.

The multilateral institution currently has $1.5 billion in funding for programs in Lebanon. Part of this amount will be redirected.

Since September 23, more than 1,000 people have been killed in an Israeli air-and-ground campaign on Lebanon that has targeted armed group Hezbollah in the south and east of the country, with strikes expanding to include the capital Beirut.

Thousands have been displaced since the bombing began, and the funds would be used to provide aid to those populations, the World Bank said.

"This would include emergency support to displaced people that could be deployed through a digital platform the World Bank helped put in place during the Covid epidemic," the statement said.