Oman’s youth unemployment problem is a harbinger for wider Gulf

Unrest in Oman is a harbinger for other Gulf petrostates that need to diversify their economies to create jobs for legions of young people.

In late May the Gulf nation of Oman was rocked by demonstrations as young people took to streets in cities across the country to protest a lack of jobs and economic opportunity. The unrest fell just weeks after the government, led by Oman’s new ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, introduced a 5 percent value-added tax (VAT) as part of a long-delayed fiscal reform package that included other cuts to state spending and plans to introduce an income tax. The austerity measures are designed to rein in Oman’s widening budget deficit and skyrocketing public debt after its public finances – among the region’s worst – were brutalised by last year’s coronavirus pandemic disruptions and oil price crash.