Total assets of Omani banks increase

Muscat: The total assets of conventional banks increased by 4.8 per cent to OMR28.8 billion at the end of July 2018 from OMR27.5 billion at the end of July 2017. Of the total assets, credit accounted for 72.4 per cent, which increased by 4.1 per cent to OMR20.9 billion at the end of July 2018.
Credit granted to the private sector grew by 2.9 per cent to OMR18.6 billion at the end of July 2018. In total credit to the private sector, the non-financial sector accounted for 46.7 per cent, followed by the retail sector — mostly under personal loans — with 44.9 per cent, while financial corporations and other sectors accounted for 5.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.
On the liabilities side of conventional banks, total deposits increased by only 1.8 per cent from OMR18.9 billion at the end of July 2017 to OMR19.2 billion at the end of July 2018.
The consolidated balance sheet for the banking sector, which includes conventional and Islamic banks and windows (other depository corporations), showed a rise in the credit balance to OMR24.3 billion at the end of July 2018, a growth of 6.3 per cent over the same period last year. Total credit granted to the private sector increased by 5.4 per cent to OMR21.7 billion at the end of July 2018.
Total deposits of the banking sector grew by 3.4 per cent to OMR22.3 billion, with private sector deposits increasing by 2.6 per cent to reach OMR14.1 billion at the end of July 2018. The sector-wise break-up of total private sector deposits showed that households contributed 49.3 per cent, followed by non-financial corporations with 29.9 per cent, financial corporations with 18.3 per cent, and the other sectors with 2.5 per cent.
The preliminary data for the Sultanate's national accounts showed that gross domestic product (GDP) growth at current prices stood at 6.5 per cent during the first quarter of 2018 as against 15.8 per cent in the same period of 2017.
Oil prices gained further and the price of Omani crude oil during January-July 2018 averaged at US$65.4 per barrel compared with $51.6 per barrel during the same period last year. The inflationary pressures in the Sultanate remained generally benign. The average annual inflation rate based on the consumer price index of the Sultanate was some 0.8 per cent during January-July 2018 in comparison with 1.8 per cent in the same period last year.