MSM30 Index closed the week down by 0.56 per cent w-o-w, largely on account of a regional escalation of coronavirus fears as GCC and regional countries reported an increasing number of cases. All sub-indices closed down, led by the Industrial Index, which closed down by 1.42 per cent w-o-w, followed by the Financial Index which closed down by 0.78 per cent w-o-w and the Services Index, which closed down by 0.72 per cent w-o-w. The MSM Shariah Index also closed down by 0.72 per cent w-o-w.
A contract for the implementation of the health insurance information exchange platform - the centrepiece of the Mandatory Health Insurance System (Dhamani) due to be rolled out in the Sultanate - has been awarded to a consortium led by well-known Omani IT solutions specialist Infoline. Infoline has been named as the ‘Solutions Partner’ for the Dhamani platform. CMA also said that an estimated 5 million people will be covered by the Mandatory Health Insurance System when it is fully rolled out across the Sultanate over the next couple of years. This will lead to significant growth in the health insurance companies’ premium in the coming years.
The developers of Oman’s first utility-scale solar project are preparing to bring the landmark scheme into operation. Amin Renewable Energy Company (AREC), a consortium led by the Marubeni Corporation, had been awarded a contract by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to develop, finance, operate and maintain a 105 MW solar PV plant at Amin in the latter’s oilfield concession in south Oman. PDO is also the offtaker of the electricity output from the solar plant under a 23-year Power Purchase Agreement signed with Amin Renewable Energy Company.
The total revenues of Omani hotels in the three-to-five-star category rose by 7.2 per cent to RO 229.5 million in 2019 compared to RO 214 million in 2018. However, hotel occupancy rates fell by 2.8pps to reach 54.9 per cent in 2019 against 57.7 per cent in 2018, according to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The total number of guests in Omani hotels showed a significant increase by 18.3 per cent in the 2019, reaching 1.77 million compared to 1.49 million in 2018.
The latest CBO data for conventional banks indicates that the weighted average RO interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate) widened by 1.7bps on year-on year basis (YoY), at 3.447 per cent during the month of Dec 19, as YoY growth in weighted average deposit rate lagged behind the YoY growth in lending rate. On month-on-month (MoM) basis, the spread softened by 0.5bps as lending rate contraction outpaced deposit rate decline, where lending rate softened by 2.8bps with deposit rate decreasing by 2.3bps. Weighted average deposit rate on RO deposits dropped to 2.006 per cent from the peak of 2.029 per cent (since May 2010) recorded in Nov 19. Weighted average FCY spread softened by 19.9bps on month-on-month (MoM) basis during Dec’19 to 2.82 per cent, falling below 3.0 per cent for the first time since Dec 2017.
The spread is lower by 95.5bps when compared to that recorded in Dec 18, and has consistently been below RO spread since July 19. Weighted average interest rate on private sector RO time deposits expanded by 8.4bps MoM in Oct 19 and 47.3bps YoY, to 3.924 per cent. Weighted average interest rate on ALL private sector deposits (RO), fell to 1.476 per cent (-2.9bps MoM and +7.8bps YoY).
Recent data from NCSI Oman indicates that the country’s population has decreased by 0.37 per cent by Feb 2020 compared to 2019-year end, on account of 1.42 per cent decline in expatriate population. During the first two months of the year 27,983 expatriates left the country.
(Courtesy: U Capital)
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