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.