Oman and Lebanon plan to boost their government budget spending in 2012, while Tunisia's economy could shrink slightly this year as it is reeling from impacts of social unrest, finance ministers said Tuesday. In Oman, the budget spending should rise to 9.2 billion rials ($23.9 billion) this year, slightly higher than had been expected in June and well above the original 8.1 billion-rial plan, Finance Minister Darwish Al-Balushi said. “Now, it is 9.2 billion rials,” he told Reuters about government spending in 2011, speaking ahead of a Wednesday meeting of Arab finance ministers in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. “We are looking at the oil price and we hope it will stay at a decent level. We have seen a decline in the oil price but as long as it stays above $80 (per barrel) we will be alright,” he said. Sultan Qaboos bin Said promised a $2.6 billion spending package in April. He also announced plans to create 50,000 new jobs among other measures. In Lebanon, the 2012 government budget will increase by roughly 15 percent, Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi told Reuters Tuesday. “The budget will increase by 15 percent roughly. Our deficit will be not more than $3 billion at best. So we'll be borrowing,” he said. Lebanon's 2011 draft budget, presented to the cabinet last September, put spending at 19.77 trillion Lebanese pounds ($13.1 billion), projecting a deficit of $3.6 billion. “Our expectations, it (inflation) will not be less than 3 percent next year. But we are expecting growth of not less than 4 percent real GDP growth in 2012,” Safadi said on the sidelines of a reception in Abu Dhabi's luxurious Emirates Palace hotel.
