Bank credit of conventional banks in Oman increases by 1.7%

Muscat: The combined balance sheet of conventional banks denotes an annual growth in total outstanding credit of 1.7 per cent at the end of November 2019.
Credit to the private sector increased by 0.6 per cent to reach OMR19 billion at the end of November 2019, according to the report published by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Conventional banks’ overall investments in securities stood at OMR3.5 billion at the end of November 2019. Investment in Government Development Bonds and Government Sukuk increased by 11.2 per cent over the year to OMR1.5 billion at the end of November 2019. Banks also invested OMR318.5 million in Government Treasury Bills at the end of November 2019. Conventional banks’ investments in foreign securities stood at OMR1.2 billion in November 2019.
Aggregate deposits held with conventional banks increased to OMR19.7 billion in November 2019 from OMR19.5 billion a year ago. Government deposits with conventional banks went down by 1.9 per cent to OMR5.3 billion. Deposits of public enterprises increased by 18.6 per cent to OMR1.3 billion during the same period.
Private sector deposits, which accounted for 64.8 per cent of total deposits with conventional banks, increased to OMR12.8 billion in November 2019 from OMR.7 billion a year ago.
The core capital and reserves of conventional banks as at the end of November 2019 stood at OMR4.9 billion.