Credit granted by banks in Oman exceeds OMR30bn

Muscat: The total credit balance granted by the banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman increased by 2.7 percent to reach OMR30.6 billion at the end of February 2024.

Data issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) indicate that the credit granted to the private sector recorded a growth of 3.9 percent to reach OMR25.8 billion at the end of February 2024.

Data on the distribution indicate that non-financial companies accounted for the largest share of the credit granted to the private sector at 45.7 percent, followed by the individual sector at 45.3 percent. The remaining credit granted was distributed among the financial companies sector at 5.3 percent while other sectors received credit of 3.7 percent.

The CBO data further reveal that total deposits in the banking sector registered a growth of 13.3 percent to reach OMR30.1 billion at the end of last February. Within this total, private sector deposits in the banking system witnessed an increase of 14.8 percent to reach OMR20.1 billion.

When looking at the distribution of the total deposit base of the private sector among the various sectors, the CBO data showed that the individual sector held the largest share and amounted to about 48.4 percent, followed by the non-financial companies sector and the financial companies sector with a share of 32.3 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, while the remaining 2.8. percent was distributed among other sectors.