Total conventional banks assets hit RO 29.1 billion till Sept

MUSCAT: Review of the activities of conventional banks shows that their total assets stood at RO 29.1 billion in September 2018, increasing by 4.3 per cent over that in December 2017 and 5.5 per cent over that a year ago, according to the bulletin issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).

Total credit disbursement amounted to RO 21.4 billion at the end of third quarter of 2018 and constituted 73.3 per cent of the total assets.

The private sector credit increased year-on-year (YOY) by 3.4 per cent to RO 18.7 billion in September 2018, accounting for 87.8 per cent of the total credit of conventional banks.

Sector-wise credit distribution shows that of the total credit extended to the private sector, the share of non-financial corporate sector share was 46.7 per cent, followed by the household sector with 44.7 per cent, and financial corporations and other sectors with 6.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Securities, the second major component of banks’ assets, increased by 1.8 per cent to RO 3.3 billion in September 2018.

Among the investment in securities, Government Development Bonds and Government Sukuk increased YOY by 20.3 per cent to RO 1.4 billion at the end of September 2018. Banks also invested RO 257.1 million in Government Treasury Bills as at the end of September 2018. Conventional banks’ investments in foreign securities stood at RO 1.2 billion in September 2018.

The ratio of total foreign assets to total assets worked out at 10.2 per cent while foreign liabilities to total liabilities stood at 12.5 per cent as at the end of September 2018.

The aggregate deposits held with conventional banks increased year-on-year (YOY) by 2.5 per cent to RO 19.3 billion in September 2018, according to a bulletin released by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).

Government deposits with conventional banks increased by 7.8 per cent to RO 5.4 billion while public enterprises deposits increased by 7 per cent to RO 1.2 billion in September 2018. Private sector deposits accounted for 64.3 per cent of total deposits with conventional banks in September 2018.

The core capital and reserves of conventional banks stood at RO 4.4 billion as at the end of September 2018, a rise of 5.9 per cent over the previous year.