Conventional and Islamic banks in Oman maintain a steady growth in the first quarter of 2018   

Oman’s banking sector continues to grow at a reasonable rate and has maintained its success in meeting the credit needs of all economic segments, with special emphasis on the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, which has resulted in support for economic activities including diversification initiatives.

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) recently issued several regulatory amendments to boost liquidity and credit and to create an attractive business environment to spur economic growth.
The combined balance sheet of conventional and Islamic banks and windows (other depository corporations) provides a complete overview of the financial intermediation taking place in the banking sector in Oman.

The total outstanding credit extended by other depository corporations grew by 7.7 per cent to RO24.1bn at the end of April 2018 compared with the previous year. Credit extended to the private sector increased by 6.0 per cent to RO21.5bn at the end of April, 45.5 per cent of which was made available to the household sector, while 46.1 per cent was granted to the non-financial corporate sector. Financial corporations and other sectors obtained 4.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent of the total amount of credit, respectively.

Total deposits registered a growth of 2.3 per cent to RO22.0bn, with private sector deposits growing by 1.8 per cent to RO14.1bn at the end of April 2018. Households accounted for 49.6 per cent of total private sector deposits, followed by non-financial corporations at 29.3 per cent, financial corporations at 18.4 per cent, and other sectors at 2.7 per cent.

A review of the activities of conventional banks indicated that total outstanding credit increased by 6 per cent to RO20.9bn at the end of April 2018, while credit extended to the private sector increased by 3.9 per cent to RO18.5bn.

Overall investments made by conventional banks in securities grew by 6.6 per cent to RO3.1bn at the end of April, while investment in Government Treasury Bills stood at RO342.2mn and investment in government securities, inclusive of GDBs, government sukuk, and others stood at RO1.4bn.

The End