The Central Bank of Oman’s (CBO) Board of Governors concluded its 1st meeting of 2016. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ali bin Mohammed bin Moosa, Deputy Chairman of the CBO’s Board of Governors.
The Board reviewed the various issues on the agenda of its meeting, including the Economic and Financial report upto 31st December 2015, as well as the activity report of the CBO’s Departments during the period under review.
The Board approved the application of Bank Muscat to allow it to open a Representative Office in Tehran in Iran. Due to the saturation in the domestic market, the Board decided to continue with moratorium on licensing of new money Exchange Companies for another two years until the end of 2017.
The Board approved the application of Wasel Exchange to acquire the operations of Musandam Exchange. The Board also agreed to permit Finance and Leasing Companies to accept deposits from corporates only, based on certain conditions.
The Board reviewed the actions taken by the CBO and licensed banks operating in the Sultanate with regard to the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the Board endorsed the audited accounts of the CBO, Deposit Insurance Fund and Pension Scheme of the CBO as at 31st December 2015. The Board also reviewed the Management letter report of the external auditors and annual report of the CBO Internal Audit Committee.
In addition, the Board also reviewed the CBO’s financial position as at the end of February 2016 and the performance of the CBO’s external investments during the period under review.
The Board also reviewed the financial and administrative matters of CBO and has taken necessary decisions.