Abdulsalam al-Murshidi has been appointed to head up the Omani Investment Authority (OIA), the newly established body designed to replace the sultanate’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs).
The appointment was made by Oman’s Sultan and comes a week after the new authority was first announced. Al-Murshidi previously served as the executive president of the State General Reserve Fund, the largest of the two SWFs that have now been folded into the OIA.
Despite the formation of a new body to manage the wealth funds, Al-Murshidi faces a tough task as Oman’s wealth funds have been extensively tapped over the last year to finance its fiscal deficits.
According to estimates from the Sovereign Wealth Institute, the SGRF has seen its assets decrease by a third since the end of 2019 – from €21.4 billion to €14.3 billion (US$24.3 billion to $16.2 billion).
Earlier this year, Fitch Ratings warned that the fund could be depleted by a further €5 billion in order to finance budget deficits.
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