Credit disbursement by banks rises

Business Saturday 20/July/2019 16:59 PM
By: Times News Service
Credit disbursement by banks rises

Muscat: Review of the activities of conventional banks indicates an annual growth in total outstanding credit disbursement of 4.4 per cent at the end of April 2019. Credit to the private sector grew by 2.1 per cent to OMR18.9 billion. Conventional banks’ overall investments in securities increased by 9.0 per cent to OMR3.4 billion. Investment in Government Treasury Bills (GTBs) stood at OMR290.5 million at the end of April 2019.
Aggregate deposits held with conventional banks increased by 4.7 per cent to OMR19.8 billion in April 2019 from OMR18.9 billion a year ago. Government deposits with conventional banks increased by 10.3 per cent to OMR5.7 billion, while deposits of public enterprises increased by 23.8 per cent to OMR1.1 billion during the same period.
Private sector deposits, which accounted for 64 per cent of total deposits with conventional banks, increased marginally by 2.2 per cent to OMR12.7 billion. The core capital and reserves of conventional banks at the end of April 2019 stood at OMR4.9 billion.
Islamic banking entities
The Islamic banking entities provided financing to the extent of OMR3.7 billion at the end of April 2019 compared to OMR3.2 billion a year ago.
Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows also increased to OMR3.3 billion in April 2019 from OMR3.1 billion a year ago.
The total assets of Islamic banks and windows combined amounted to OMR4.5 billion at the end of April 2019, and constituted about 13.3 per cent of the banking system assets.