Oman's total domestic liquidity rises to OMR20.50bn

Muscat: The total volume of domestic liquidity witnessed an increase of 2.1 per cent, to reach OMR20.50 billion at the end of January 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to a new report.

According to the preliminary statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) the total cash issued in Oman decreased at the end of January 2023 by 5.3 per cent, to reach OMR1.60 billion, compared to OMR1.69 billion at the end of January 2022.

The money supply in the narrow sense, which consists of total cash outside the banking system, in addition to current accounts and demand deposits in local currency, decreased by 3.1 per cent to reach OMR5.57 billion at the end of January, compared to OMR5.75 billion during the same period of 2022.
As for the volume of foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), it decreased by 15.1 per cent, reaching at the end of last January to OMR6.25 billion compared to OMR7.58 during the same period in 2022.

On the other hand, total private sector deposits with commercial banks and Islamic windows in the Sultanate of Oman increased by 1.5 per cent, to reach  OMR17.53 billion at the end of January 2023, compared to OMR17.26 billion during the same period in 2022.

The NCSI data further indicated an increase in total loans and financing in commercial banks and Islamic windows by 5 per cent, to reach OMR29.35 billion at the end of January 2023 compared to OMR27.95 billion during the same period in 2022.

The actual exchange rate index for the Omani rial increased by 5.5 per cent at the end of January 2023, to record 112.5 points, compared to 106.6 points in the same period in 2022, while the average interest rate on loans in Omani rials decreased from 5.504 per cent at the end of January 2022 to 5.306 per cent at the end of January 2023.