Oman is looking to set up an Early Warning System (EWS) for financial and economic crises, which will enable the government to adopt pre-emptive steps and mitigate setbacks on its financial system.

The project will be executed by the country’s Tawazun programme and the Korea Development Institute (KDI).

A simulation of the forecasting model was presented at a meeting co-chaired by Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, Secretary General at the Ministry of Finance, and Dr Woong Seob Zhin, Former Governor of Financial Supervisory Service of Korea and senior advisor of the project, reported the Oman News Agency.

An EWS provides signals indicating the likelihood of a financial crisis over a given time, factoring in risks and economic uncertainties, allowing to onboard pre-emptive steps to minimise its impact on the country’s financial system.

Oman’s Tawazun programme is the National Programme for Fiscal Balance, created by the Ministry of Finance in light of the fiscal challenges, and the uncertainty in the future of oil prices.

The country’s Medium Term Fiscal Plan (MTFP) for the years 2020-2024 was developed with an objective of achieving fiscal balance in the medium term.

(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)

(bindu.rai@lseg.com)