Oman has appointed the Gulf state's top lender Bank Muscat to arrange a secondary share sale of a 19 percent stake in its biggest mobile telecommunications operator, Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel).

The government plans to sell the stake, which is expected to raise around $600 million, to help boost its non-oil income and fund rising public spending.

"Ministry of Finance has decided to appoint Bank Muscat as the financial advisor for selling 27 per cent of its shares in Oman Telecommunication Company, equivalent to 19 per cent of the company's share capital," Omantel said in a bourse statement on Tuesday.-Reuters