Muscat: The growth in M2 was driven by a 12% rise in narrow money and a marginal 0.6% increase in quasi-money. Quasi-money includes savings and time deposits in Omani riyals, certificates of deposit issued by banks, margin accounts, and all foreign currency deposits within the banking sector.
Interestingly, while cash held by the public fell by 7.5% during the same period, demand deposits surged by 16.8%, indicating a shift towards more active forms of monetary holdings.
In terms of interest rate movements across conventional commercial banks, the weighted average interest rate on Omani riyal deposits saw a slight decrease—from 2.580% in April 2024 to 2.549% in April 2025. Meanwhile, the average interest rate on Omani riyal loans dipped from 5.604% to 5.555%.
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The overnight interbank lending rate also fell to 4.392% in April 2025, down from 5.212% a year earlier. This decrease aligns with a broader decline in the weighted average interest rate on repo operations, which dropped from 6% to 5%.
