Oman's banking sector posts reasonable growth

Muscat: The banking sector continued recording reasonable growth rates and supported ongoing economic diversification initiatives, including meeting the credit needs of all economic sectors with more focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has introduced many amendments to banking sector regulations to raise the available credit liquidity. This led to creating a business-friendly environment that encourages the growth of the economy.
The accumulated figures for the budget of the banking sector, which include Islamic and traditional banks, or what are known as other deposits companies, provides a comprehensive view about the financial brokerage of the banking system in the Sultanate, notes that the credit balance reported by the banking sector stands at OMR24.10 billion at the end of March 2018; a growth of 7.8 per cent compared to the end of March 2017.
Also, the CBO report pointed out that credit made available to the private sector grew by 6.3 per cent to OMR22.4 billion at the end of March 2018.
The sector distribution of total credit in the private sector reported that the individual sector, made up of mostly personal loans, stood at 45.40 per cent, compared to 5 per cent for financial sector companies and 3.4 per cent for other sectors.
On the other side of the budget, total deposits of the banking sector grew 4.1 per cent to OMR22.3 billion. Deposits in the private sector grew by 2.9 per cent to OMR14.2 billion at the end of March 2018.
The sectoral distribution for deposits in the private sector saw shares in the individual sector reaching some 49 per cent, followed by 29.5 for non-financial companies, 19 per cent for financial companies and 2.5 per cent in other sectors.