Banking sector credit in Oman grows by 6% till June 2018

Muscat: The several regulatory amendments issued recently by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) enabled more space for banks to extend credit for stimulating economic activities in the Sultanate.

The combined balance sheet of conventional and Islamic banks and windows (other depository corporations) indicate that the total outstanding credit extended by other depository corporations (ODCs) increased by 6.1 per cent to OMR24.3 billion as at the end of June 2018.

Credit extended to the private sector rose by 5.1 per cent to OMR21.7 billion at the end of June 2018.

The disaggregated information in private sector credit exhibits that non-financial corporate constituted highest of 45.8 per cent, followed by household sector 45.5 per cent, financial cooperation 4.9 per cent and other sectors 3.8 per cent.

Total deposits registered a growth of 4.5 per cent to OMR22.3 billion, with private sector deposits increasing by 4.7 per cent to OMR14.2 billion as at the end of June 2018.

Sector-wise break-up of total private sector deposits shows that households contributed 49.4 per cent, followed by non-financial corporations with 29.6 per cent, financial corporations with 18.5 per cent, and the other sectors with 2.5 per cent.