Expat visa ban extended in this GCC country?

Ministry of Manpower in Oman extended visa ban for expats, reserving some occupations for Omanis only. In the wake of Omanisation policy, the ministry announced the visa ban in the end of January 2018 where 87 job sectors were reserved for only Omanis. 
The ban was further extended in July 2018 and recent ban was extended in February this year. According to Article 1 of Decree No. 73/2019, "All permits to hire non-Omani workers will be suspended temporarily in private sector occupations for a period of six months". The occupations falling in the list include information technology, accounting, finance, marketing, sales, administration and Human Resources, insurance, information & media, some medical and airport professions, and engineering and technical professions.
However, the Ministry of Manpower clarified that expats who were already issued visas before this decree may may continue to work until the end of the visa period. While small and medium enterprise (SME) owners and developers are allowed to continue to hire expat workers, according to Article 2, which states: "This decision does not apply to business owners who are registered with the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprise Development, or to the owners insured by the Public Authority for Social Insurance".
Saif Al Badi, Head of Oman Chambers of Commerce and Industry Branch in Al Dhahirah, told Times of Oman that exempting SMEs from the visa ban was crucial. "The exception of small and medium-sized business owners is a positive thing as it will help entrepreneurs have more power and control in the market," he said. He further added that this could also result in more people leaving government sector to start their own businesses in private sector, thus allowing jobseekers to fill their place.
"We face the problem of an overload of workers in some sectors; for example, real estate sector faces an increase in supply but a decrease in demand. Before ending the visa ban, the ministry must ensure the market is no longer in need of expat workers," Al Badi said.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, 87.72 per cent of the workers in private sector are expatriates. This means, of the 2,041,190 workers only 250,717 are Omanis. But after the visa ban was implemented, over 60,000 Omanis have been given jobs in private sector companies in the last one year.
According to NCSI data, there has been a 3.6 per cent drop in number of expat workers in Oman last year as compared to 2017.