Credit extended by banks in Oman rises 5.7% to OMR25.5bn

Muscat: The banking sector in the Sultanate continued to support growth in economic activities by providing credit and other banking services to all segments, especially to those within the non-oil activates and to SMEs.
An analysis of the combined balance sheet of conventional banks and Islamic banking entities (other depository corporations) provides the progress of financial intermediation in the Sultanate.
The total outstanding credit extended by other depository corporations (ODCs) stood at OMR25.5 billion at the end of March 2019, witnessing a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 5.7 per cent. Credit to the private sector increased by 4.2 per cent to RO22.4 billion at the end of March 2019.
Of the total credit to the private sector, the share of non-financial corporate sector stood at 46.1 per cent, the household sector (mainly under personal loans) at 45.1 per cent while that of financial corporations and other sectors stood at 5.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively.
Total deposits held with ODCs increased by 3.4 per cent to OMR23 billion, with private sector deposits growing by 2.9 per cent to OMR14.6 billion at the end of March 2019.
Sector-wise, the contribution of households in total private sector deposits was 49.4 per cent, followed by non-financial corporations at 30.7 per cent, financial corporations at 17.4 per cent, and the other sectors at 2.5 per cent.