International institutions expect 2019 to be a somewhat difficult year for Oman’s economy – back in April the World Bank said it anticipated GDP expansion of 1.2% for the sultanate in 2019, while in July the IMF revised its 2019 growth forecast to 0.3%, down from the 1.1% it had originally forecast. These sluggish outlooks have their origins in the crash in oil prices from mid-2014, from which the country – and indeed the region – has still not fully recovered.