The banking sector in the Sultanate continued to witness reasonable growth and support economic diversification initiatives, including providing adequate credit to the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.
The combined balance sheet of conventional and Islamic banks (other depository corporations) taken together provides a complete overview of the financial intermediation taking place in the banking system in the Sultanate.
The total outstanding credit extended by other depository corporations stood at OMR25.10 billion at the end of December 2018, witnessing a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 6.4 per cent, according to the bulletin issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
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Credit to the private sector increased by 4.9 per cent to OMR22 billion at the end of December 2018. The household sector (mainly under personal loans) constituted 45.6 per cent of the total credit to the private sector, closely followed by the non-financial corporate sector at 45.8 per cent, while financial corporations and other sectors constituted 5.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.
Total deposits grew by 7.8 per cent to OMR23.30 billion, with private sector deposits increasing by 2.6 per cent to OMR14.30 billion at the end of December 2018.
Sector-wise, the contribution of households to total private sector deposits stood at 48.5 per cent, followed by non-financial corporations at 30.4 per cent, financial corporations at 18.5 per cent, and the other sectors at 2.5 per cent.
