CBO mulls setting up financial courts in Oman

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) says it is weighing the potential to establish specialised courts to handle financial cases in the Sultanate of Oman.

The apex bank said in a press statement that the issue was discussed at the first meeting of the year of the Central Bank’s Board of Governors.

The Board directed the CBO's executive management to coordinate with relative authorities to conduct a study on the possibility of establishing specialised courts in financial cases, it stated.

Earlier, the Board commenced its meeting by reviewing the economic, financial and monetary developments in the Sultanate of Oman and globally, as well as the developments related to global energy prices.

The Board commended the improvement of the economic situation, highlighting the need to observe the new developments, especially in the financial and monetary sector and stressing the keenness of the banking and financial sector to support the national economy.

During the meeting, the Board reviewed the performance indicators of the banking sector, which indicate that the sector is operating in the framework of a flexible regulatory and supervisory environment that adopts the best international practices, enabling the sector to deal with the recent challenges. In this regard, the Board stressed the need to exert greater efforts in financing the productive sectors and encouraging savings.

The Board also reviewed the CBO's financial position report as in February 2022, as well as the banks financial safety indicators and the reports submitted by the CBO's executive management on the prospects and challenges facing financial stability. It also examined the status of CBO's reserves and the performance of its foreign investments. The Board also took stock of the annual report of Oman Credit and Financial Information Centre (Mala'a) and the semi-annual report of the High Sharia Supervisory Board for July-December 2021.

The Board approved the CBO's audited final accounts, the Bank Deposit Insurance Scheme and CBO employees' pension scheme for 2021. The Board also discussed a number of other topics related to the recent activities of the different departments at CBO and took the appropriate decisions on the same.