The council said that such a tax would have a negative impact on the country’s investment prospects.
The decision to sell the business was due to the bank’s review of “strategic alternatives and operational priorities”, a statement said.
Oman has been considering a range of spending cuts and tax rises, including a levy on the remittances of foreign workers.
The move will boost the GCC’s tourism industry, helping sectors such as aviation and hospitality.
The organisation’s executive president said that the fund has been investing heavily in Muscat Securities Market, taking advantage of the fall in prices.
Analysts fear that any power struggle after the sultan’s death within his Al-Said family – or between the royal family and army leaders – could rattle the country.
ORPIC had said on Dec. 5 that it had put out a fire at one of the naphtha treatment units at the refinery in Muscat.
Greg Young says the rebranding is crucial to the Omani telecom operator’s future success.
If enforced, it will become illegal to consume and trade alcohol across the sultanate.
Cement firms in Oman have also warned that the price rise will lead to an increase in their production costs.
HSBC Bank Oman said in April it had agreed to the sale of its Indian business to Doha Bank.
Saudi Arabia’s bourse took the biggest hit, dropping 4.8 per cent to 8,625 points, its lowest close since early January.
Raysut will try offset the impact of higher gas prices by making other cost reductions, improving efficiency and restructuring its own prices, according to a bourse filing.
Brent crude prices have fallen about 10 per cent since regional equity markets last traded on Thursday.
The government plans to introduce hikes to gas prices in 2015.
HSBC Oman, 51 per cent owned by London-listed HSBC, said talks were preliminary and may or may not lead to a sale.
A two per cent tax on the remittances sent by foreign workers in Oman is estimated to generate about OMR62 million.
The commercial complex will include a shopping centre, stores, a food court and an area for children’s games.
The company made a net profit of OMR30 million ($77.9 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from OMR29.1 million in the year-earlier period.
The new OTT players have helped the telecoms provider boost revenues from data usage, says the CEO.
In a video message broadcast on state television, a frail-looking Qaboos offered greetings to Omanis on the occasion of his birthday, which falls on Nov. 18 and is celebrated in Oman as a national day.
The lender has received regulatory approval for the issue, which would help fund its expansion.
The Sultanate introduced Islamic finance at the end of 2012, becoming the last country in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to do so.
Oman has been considering ways to reform its costly and sometimes wasteful subsidy system, though reductions in spending would be politically sensitive
Oman needs a relatively high oil price to balance its budget, so its state finances are more vulnerable than most to the drop of Brent crude oil to around $85 a barrel.
Oxy had said in October 2013 that it planned to sell a minority stake in its MENA operations as part of a restructuring programme.
Sohar is starting to compete for traffic with Jebel Ali and other top Gulf ports, as part of a far-reaching plan by Oman to diversify its economy beyond oil.
Nawras had 2.51 million subscribers as of Sept. 30, up 6.5 per cent from a year ago.
The bank made a net profit of OMR9.8 million ($25.5 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from OMR8.3 million in the same period of 2013.
The bank made a quarterly profit of OMR40.39 million ($104.9 million) in the three months to September 30, it said in a statement to the Muscat bourse.