Omani rial exchange rate index up by more than 3% in 2018

Business Tuesday 11/December/2018 19:01 PM
By: Times News Service
Omani rial exchange rate index up by more than 3% in 2018

Muscat: The Omani rial’s effective exchange rate index rose by 3.2 per cent to 104.3 points as of the end of September 2018 compared to 101.1 points in the same month in 2017, indicating the currency has enhanced purchasing power.
According to the preliminary data released by the National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI), broad money supply rose by 2.6 per cent as of the end of September 2018, registering OMR16.530 billion compared to the same period of 2017, when it was recorded at OMR16.109 billion.
Total foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman fell by 18.2 per cent, reaching OMR5.383 billion compared to the same period in 2017 when it stood at OMR6.579 billion.
Private sector deposits in commercial banks and Islamic windows showed a rise of 2.2 per cent as of the end of September 2018, reaching OMR14.081 billion against OMR13.777 billion in 2017.
Total loans and financing in commercial banks rose by 7.5 per cent to OMR24.815 billion by the end of September 2018 against OMR23.078 billion in 2017.
The average interest rate on total credit touched 5 per cent at the end of nine-month period, recording a rise of 5.3 per cent in 2018 compared to 5 per cent during the same period in 2017.
The total currency issued by the end of September 2018 stood at OMR1.608 billion against OMR1.646 billion issued in 2017, marking a decline of 2.4 per cent, according to NCSI data.
Narrow money supply, which consists of total cash outside the banking system in addition to current accounts and demand deposits in local currency, increased by 0.8 per cent to OMR5.077 billion compared to OMR5.037 billion during the same period of 2017.