The Banking Executive Magazine - September 2023 Issue

Credit Granted by Banks Credit Granted by Banks in Oman tops $51.8bln An analysis of the activities of tradi- tional commercial banks during July 2022-July 2023 indicates continued growth of credit in the Sultanate of Oman. The total balance of credit granted by banks recorded an in- crease of 5.3 percent reaching OMR20.2 billion at the end of July 2023. The report issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) further stated that the total investments of tradi- tional commercial banks in securities witnessed a decline of 4.6 percent and reached about OMR4.4 billion at the end of July 2023. Investment in government develop- ment bonds (GDBs) recorded a de- crease of 10.4 percent reaching OMR 1.9 billion at the end of July 2023 compared to the same period last year. Regarding investments in foreign se- curities, the CBO report said that such investments witnessed an in- crease of 89.5 percent reaching OMR1.2 billion Omani rials at the end of July 2023. On the other liabilities side, total de- posits with traditional commercial banks recorded an increase of 3.4 percent to reach OMR22.2 billion at the end of July 2023. Among the total deposits, govern- ment deposits with commercial banks recorded an increase of 7 per- cent reaching about OMR5.3 billion, while deposits of public sector insti- tutions decreased by 9.7 percent reaching about OMR1.6 billion dur- ing the same period. Private sector deposits recorded an increase of 4.2 percent to reach OMR14.9 billion in July 2023, con- stituting 67 percent of the total de- posits with traditional commercial banks. ISSUE 177 SEPTEMBER 2023 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 21