Assets of commercial banks in Oman rise 7.7% to OMR28.6 billion

Muscat: The total assets of conventional commercial banks increased by 7.7 per cent to OMR28.6 billion in April 2016 from OMR26.5 billion a year ago. Of the total assets, credit disbursement accounted for 67.2 per cent and increased by 9.4 per cent at the of end April 2016 to OMR19.2 billion, according to statistics issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Credit to the private sector increased by 12.1 per cent to reach OMR16.9 billion as at the end of April 2016. Conventional banks' overall investments in securities stood at OMR2.7 billion as at the end of April 2016.
Investment in Government Development Bonds and Government Sukuk increased by 37.7 per cent over the year to OMR923.1 million at the end of April 2016. Banks also invested OMR368.6 million in Government Treasury Bills as at the end of April 2016.
Commercial banks' investments in foreign securities stood at OMR853.1 million in April 2016, registering an increase of 61.3 per cent over the year. Aggregate deposits held with conventional banks registered a modest increase of 2.8 per cent to OMR18.3 billion in April 2016 from OMR17.8 billion a year ago.
Government deposits with conventional banks declined by 8.4 per cent to OMR4.7 billion. Deposits of public enterprises increased by 45.9 per cent to OMR1.2 billion during the same period.
Private sector deposits, which constituted 66 per cent of total deposits with conventional banks, increased by 4.7 per cent to OMR12.1 billion in April 2016 from OMR11.5 billion a year ago. The core capital and reserves of conventional banks stood at OMR3.7 billion as at the end of the April 2016, a rise of 17.7 per cent over the previous year.
Islamic banking entities provided financing to the extent of OMR1.95 billion as at the end of April 2016 when compared to OMR1.3 billion a year ago.
Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows also registered a significant increase to OMR1.72 billion in April 2016 from OMR0.8 billion outstanding as at the end of April 2015. The total assets of Islamic banks and windows combined, amounted to OMR2.5 billion at the end of April 2016 which constituted about 8.3 per cent of the banking system assets.
The combined balance sheet of conventional and Islamic banks (other depository corporations) taken together, provides a complete overview of the financial intermediation taking place in the banking system in Oman. The total outstanding credit extended by the other depository corporations stood at OMR21.1 billion as at the end of April 2016, a rise of 12.4 per cent over the level witnessed a year ago.
Credit to the private sector increased by 15.1 per cent to OMR18.8 billion as at the end of April 2016. Of the total credit to the private sector, the share of the household sector (mainly under personal loans) stood at 46 per cent, closely followed by the non-financial corporate sector at 45.8 per cent, financial corporations at 5.3 per cent and other sectors the remaining 2.9 per cent.
Total deposits also registered a significant growth of 7.4 per cent to OMR20 billion at the end of April
2016. Private sector deposits of the banking system registered a growth of 7.8 per cent to OMR13 billion at the end of April 2016.
Sector-wise, the share of households was 50.6 per cent of the total private sector deposit base, followed by non-financial corporations at 26.1 per cent, financial corporations at 19.2 per cent and the other sectors at 4.1 per cent.