RIYADH: Oman’s total outstanding credit extended by Other Depository Corporations, which consist of conventional and Islamic banks, grew by 6.5 percent to 30.3 billion Omani rials ($78.7 billion) at the end of June, according to a monthly statistical bulletin by the country’s apex bank.
The Central Bank of Oman noted that the nominal gross domestic product showed an increase of 7.4 percent at the end of the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022, adding that the rise was driven by an increase in the output of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon sectors by 6.1 and 6.7 percent, respectively.
In its review, the bank noted that credit to the private sector demonstrated a 7 percent year-on-year increase, reaching 25.4 billion rials.
Furthermore, it pointed out that non-financial corporations received the highest share of the total private sector credit at nearly 45.9 percent at the end of June, followed by the household sector at 44.4 percent.
The bulletin also stated that the share of financial corporations was 6 percent, with the other sectors receiving the remaining 3.7 percent of total private sector credit as of the end of June.
It added that the total deposits held with ODCs registered a year-to-year growth of 4.4 percent to reach 27.5 billion rials at the end of June. On the other hand, the total private sector deposits increased by 2.7 percent to hit 16 billion rials.
The statement further pointed out that, in terms of the sector-wise composition of private sector deposits, the biggest contribution came from household deposits at 51.8 percent, non-financial corporations at 29.6 percent, financial corporations at 15.6 percent, and other sectors at 2.9 percent.
The bank added that credit to the private sector increased by 5.4 percent to reach 20.2 billion rials. At the same time, their overall investments in securities declined by 5.9 to 4.6 billion rials at the end of June of the current year.
The average Omani oil price at the end of June 2023 at $81.4 per barrel was lower by 10 percent than in June 2022. According to the same source, the average daily oil production at 1,057,200 barrels represented an increase of 1 percent.
