Oman hikes state workers' wages by 43%

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said ordered pay increases of up to 43 per cent for state workers and a subsidy for wheat price on the Gulf Arab state, the official Omani News Agency reported on Saturday.

Sultan Qaboos also ordered a government committee to "put in place a tight mechanism to curb increases in rents", the agency reported.

The wages rise takes effect this month, it said adding that the wheat price subsidy was 25 rials ($64.95; Dh237.07) a tonne.

Annual inflation in Oman grew to 7.57 per cent in November, its highest in at least 16 years as rents and food prices rose.

Average annual inflation could rise to 7 per cent this year, compared to 6.5 per cent last year, as growth in the non-oil economy accelerates and imports become more expensive, the central bank governor told Reuters last year. (Reuters)