Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.
Four royal decrees were issued in January, and none of them related to the promulgation of any new laws. These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:
Royal Decree 1/2022 Ratifying the General Budget of the State for Fiscal Year 2022
The General Budget of the State provides a projection of the revenue and expenditure of the Omani government for the upcoming year. The level of detail and transparency that the Omani government provides in this public document exceeds what the majority of countries in this region disclose as it provides a breakdown for defence and security expenditure, civil ministers expenditure, gas production expenditure, and public debt service along with a civil ministry-by-ministry revenue and expenditure breakdown. You can view the budget in full on this link and read the controls for preparing and adopting this budget by reading the Financial Law.
Royal Decree 2/2022 Establishing the Royal Academy of Administration, Determining Its Competences, and Adopting Its Organisational Structure
As part of the continuous effort for restructuring of the government, a new government entity called the Royal Academy of Administration was established by merging the Institute of Public Administration (which was a proper government entity established by royal decree in 1980) and the Institute of Capability Development (which was an internal department created within the Diwan of Royal Court in recent years and most famously known for conducting the National CEO Program). The new Royal Academy of Administration will be under the Patronage of His Majesty, will have the Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court as the chairman of its board of trustees, and will be responsible for developing leadership and capabilities in both the public and private sectors.
Royal Decree 3/2022 Appointing the President of the Royal Academy of Administration
Dr Ali bin Qassim Al-Lawati was appointed as the president of the newly established Royal Academy of Administration. He was previously in charge of the Institute of Capability Development that was responsible for the National CEO Program. Dr Ali was originally appointed by royal decree in 2012 as an advisor for studies and research in the Diwan of Royal Court with the special grade.
Royal Decree 4/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the State of Qatar for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital
The final decree of this month ratified a double taxation agreement between Oman and Qatar. This is a routine agreement that Oman signs with countries from around the world, but is the first that Oman signs with a GCC country. The objective of this agreement is to avoid double taxation and to help combat tax evasion. The full text of the treaty was published in Arabic last week and we hope to upload our translation of it very soon.
