MUSCAT: The broad money supply witnessed a growth of 2.2 percent on an annual basis to reach OMR 20.3 billion by the end of February 2022.

This is due to an increase in cash in its narrow sense by 0.96 percent and 2.7 percent increase in quasi-cash. This consists of total savings deposits and term deposits in Omani riyals plus certificates of deposit issued by banks in addition to margin accounts and all foreign currency deposits with the banking sector.

Despite the decrease in cash with the public by 4.2 percent, cash in its narrow sense witnessed a slight increase due to the growth of demand deposits by 2.6 percent at the end of last February.

With regard to the interest rate structure of conventional commercial banks, the weighted average interest rates on deposits in Omani riyals recorded a slight decrease from 2.011 percent in February 2021 to 1.964 percent in February 2022, while the weighted average interest rates on loans in Omani riyals increased from 5.451 percent to 5,450 percent during the same period.

As for the average interest rates in the interbank lending market for one night, it witnessed a remarkable decrease of 0.430 percent in February 2022, compared to 0.547 percent in February 2021, which reflects the transition to the policy of reducing interest rates adopted by the Central Bank of Oman in line with the reduction in interest rates. Federal Reserve.

The weighted average of interest rates on repurchases that the Central Bank of Oman uses to inject liquidity when needed remained at 0.5 percent, which is the same rate compared to the same period in 2021.