Total credit granted by banks in Oman rises by 4.9%

Muscat: The total credit granted by banks in Oman increased by 4.9 percent according to an analysis of the activities of traditional commercial banks during April 2022-April 2023.

The report issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) showed that credit granted to the private sector increased by 4.9 percent, to reach OMR24.4 billion at the end of April 2023.

With regard to the investment item, the total investment of conventional commercial banks in securities witnessed a sharp decline of 15.4 percent, to reach about OMR4.4 billion at the end of April 2023. Within this item, investment in government development bonds (GDBs) increased by 0.2 percent to reach OMR 2.1 billion at the end of April 2023 compared to the same period last year.

Investments in foreign securities increased by 8.5 percent to reach OMR900 million at the end of April 2023.

On the liabilities side, total deposits with conventional commercial banks increased by 4.1 percent to reach OMR22.2 billion at the end of April 2023. Within the total deposits, government deposits with commercial banks increased by 10 percent to about OMR5.5 billion, as well as deposits of public sector institutions which increased by 10 percent to about OMR1.5 billion during the same period. Private sector deposits increased by 2.2 percent to reach OMR14.7 billion in April 2023, constituting 66.5 percent of total deposits with conventional commercial banks.