Banking & Finance

Omani banks achieve 5.7 per cent growth in credit

Omani banks, including Islamic institutions, achieved year-on-year growth of 5.7 per cent in total credit at RO23bn by September-end this year.

Credit to the private sector alone grew by 5.7 per cent to RO20.8bn as of the end of September 2017, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) said in its latest monthly report.
Of the total credit extended to the private sector, the household sector (mainly under personal loans) stood at 46.3 per cent, closely followed by the non-financial corporate sector at 45.5 per cent, while financial corporations and other sectors contributed 5.1 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.
Total deposits registered a growth of 5.8 per cent to RO21.6bn, with private sector deposits growing by 5.6 per cent to RO13.8bn by September-end 2017. Sector-wise, the contribution of households to total private sector deposits was 48.6 per cent, followed by non-financial institutions at 28.7 per cent, financial institutions at 20 per cent, and other sectors at 2.7 per cent.

Also, conventional banks achieved an annual growth in total credit of 3 per cent by September-end, mainly due to credit to the private sector increasing by 3.7 per cent to RO18.1bn.
Conventional banks’ overall investments in securities grew by 20.5 per cent to OMR3.2 billion. Investment in government treasury bills stood at RO508.2mn as of the end of September, 2017.
Aggregate deposits held with conventional banks grew by 2.1 per cent to RO18.8bn in September 2017, from OMR18.4 billion for the same period a year ago. Government deposits with conventional banks edged down by 0.9 per cent to OMR5 billion, while deposits of public enterprises declined by 1.4 per cent to RO1.1bn by end-September 2017. Private sector deposits, which accounted for 66 per cent of total deposits with conventional banks, increased by 3.2 per cent to RO12.4bn in September 2017, from RO12bn for the same period of 2016.
Besides, Islamic banks provided financing to the extent of RO2.9bn as of the end of September, compared with RO2.2bn a year ago. Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows also registered a significant increase to RO2.8bn in September 2017, from RO2bn for the same period of last year. The total assets of Islamic banks and windows combined, amounted to RO3.6bn as of the end of September 2017, constituting about 11.6 per cent of the banking system’s assets.