Muscat: Oman’s banking sector experienced robust growth as the total credit balance increased by 3.2% to reach approximately RO 31.1 billion by the end of May 2024. Credit granted to the private sector also saw a notable rise, growing by 3.1% to RO 26.1 billion.

Data from the Central Bank of Oman highlighted that non-financial companies held the largest share of the credit balance at 45.4% by the end of May, closely followed by the individual sector at 45.3%. The financial companies sector accounted for 5.7%, while other sectors comprised the remaining 3.6%.

In addition to credit growth, the total deposits in Oman’s banking sector surged by 9.2%, reaching about RO 30 billion by the end of May 2024. Within this total, private sector deposits saw a remarkable increase of 14%, amounting to RO 20.4 billion.

The distribution of the total deposit base for the private sector showed that the individual sector held the largest share at 50.4%, followed by the non-financial corporate sector at 29.4% and the financial corporate sector at 17.4%. The remaining 2.8% was distributed among other sectors.