Broad money supply in first quarter of 2019 rises

The surplus in trade balance is due to an increase in the value of merchandise exports by 1.4 per cent, reaching OMR3.7 billion, while the merchandise imports value decreased by 8.5 per cent, recording about OMR2.2 billion, compared to OMR2.5 billion in the first quarter of the previous year.

The monetary situation indicators in the same report of NCSI shows that the broad money supply (M2) in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 4 per cent, reaching OMR17.1 billion compared to OMR16.4 billion in the same quarter of 2018, while the narrow money supply (M1) decreased by 3.3 per cent, amounting to OMR5.1 billion.

Total deposits of the private sector in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 2.9 per cent to reach OMR14.6 billion compared to OMR14.2 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

Loans and financing

The total value of loans and financing granted by commercial banks and Islamic windows in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 5.7 per cent, reaching OMR25.5 billion, compared to OMR24.1 billion for the same period of the previous year.

The total value of personal loans in the first quarter of 2019 also increased by 2.4 per cent, reaching OMR8.4 billion, where the average of the interest rate on total credit in the first quarter of 2019 was 5.3 per cent, compared to 5 per cent for the same period of 2018.

The total value of foreign assets, in the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), by the end of the first quarter of 2019 decreased by 8.7 per cent, amounting to OMR6.4 billion, compared to OMR7 billion in the same period of 2018.

The purchasing power of Omani Rial at the end of the first quarter of 2019 increased by 4.3 per cent, where the real exchange rate index scored about 104.9 points, compared to 100.6 points in the same quarter of the previous year.