MUSCAT: The total loans and financing in commercial banks and Islamic windows increased by 2.7 per cent by the end of February 2024 to reach RO 30.612 billion, compared to RO 29.812 billion at end of February 2023.
The average interest rate on total loans also increased by 3.4 per cent, reaching 5.542 per cent at the end of last February, according to preliminary statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
The Centre’s data indicated that local liquidity in the Sultanate of Oman increased by the end of February 2024 by about RO 3.3 billion, to record RO 23.939 billion, an increase of 15.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
The total cash issued decreased by 1.9 per cent, recording RO 1.571 billion at the end of February 2024, compared to RO 1.602 billion at the end of February 2023.
On the other hand, the money supply in its narrow sense, which consists of the total cash outside the banking system in addition to current accounts and demand deposits in the local currency, increased by 6.9 per cent, recording RO 6.117 billion, compared to RO 5.721 billion at the end of February 2023.
The total foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman also increased by 4.3 per cent, recording at the end of last February a value of RO 6.862 billion, compared to the end of February 2023, when the total foreign assets at that time amounted to RO 6.581 billion.
Private sector deposits in commercial banks and Islamic windows by the end of February 2024 amounted to about RO 20.112 billion, an increase of 14.8 per cent over the same period in 2023, amounting to RO 17.512 billion.
The effective exchange rate index for the Omani riyal rose by 0.1 per cent at the end of February 2024 to reach 114.6 points. — ONA
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