Islamic finance jumps 12.3% to RO 4.6 bn during Jan-July

MUSCAT: Islamic banking entities provided financing of RO 4.6 billion the first seven months of this year, registering a growth of 12.3 per cent over the corresponding period of 2020, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) stated in its latest monthly bulletin.

Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows increased 16.4 per cent to RO 4.2 billion. The total assets of Islamic Banks and Windows increased by 6.7 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis to RO 5.7 billion and constituted about 15.1 per cent of the banking system’s assets as of end-July 2021, the apex bank said.

Outstanding credit extended by conventional and Islamic banks in the Sultanate, which are collectively referred to as ‘Other Depository Corporations’ (ODCs), increased 4.3 per cent to RO 27.3 billion at the end of July 2021 in comparison with trend over the same period in 2020. Credit to the private sector grew a modest 1.9 per cent (Y-o-Y) to reach RO 23.3 billion, according to the CBO report.

The non-financial corporate sector received the highest share of the total private sector credit (46.6 per cent), followed by the household sector (45.2 per cent) by July-end 2021. The share of financial corporations was 4.8 per cent, while other sectors accounted for the remaining 3.5 per cent.

Total deposits held with ODCs grew 4.5 per cent Y-o-Y to reach RO 24.9 billion at the end of July 2021. Total private sector deposits increased 4.1 per cent to RO 17.1 billion. In terms of sector-wise composition of private sector deposits, the biggest share was held by households (51.9 per cent), followed by non-financial corporations (32.1 per cent), financial corporations (13.6 per cent) and the other sectors (2.4 per cent).

The combined balance sheet of conventional banks showed a Y-o-Y growth of 2.8 per cent in total outstanding credit as of end-July 2021. Credit to the private sector increased by 0.8 to reach RO 19.0 billion while their overall investments in securities went up by 21.8 per cent to RO 4.8 billion. Investments in Government Development Bonds increased by 18.7 per cent to RO 2.2 billion, while investments in foreign securities declined 28.2 per cent to RO 0.78 billion.