MUSCAT: Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), represented by the Financial, Banking and Insurance Sector Committee in cooperation with Nizwa Islamic Bank and Meethaq Islamic Banking on Tuesday organised at Sheraton Hotel, a specialised Islamic banking seminar under the theme ‘Direct Economic Development’.
The opening of the seminar was sponsored by Tahir bin Salem al Amri, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Al Amri pointed out that the Islamic banking contributes by about 12 per cent of the banking sector in the Sultanate.
He affirmed that this growth reflects the interest of customers in such products.
He added in a statement to reports that the CBO provides all the tools including the financial, legislative and procedural tools to empower the banking sector in general and the Islamic banking in particular while taking into consideration the uniqueness of the sector.
He noted that the banking sector plays an effective role in the growth of the national economy.
‘The CBO is currently considering a number of advises related to launching new tools for managing liquidity of the Islamic Banking.
A specialized company has been appointed to consider this issue. During the first stage, we are going to study these tools and agree on their types.
During the second stage, we will provide the IT systems and infrastructure to trade in such tools.
The implementation is expected to take place during the coming six months,’ he furthered.
Ridha bin Juma Al Saleh, Deputy Chairman of OCCI Board of Directors for Administrative and Financial Affairs said that the aim of this seminar is to raise awareness of individuals and organizations on the Islamic financial tools and the role of Islamic banks in the management of economic crisis, the change in the credit rating of the Sultanate, its impact on the development plans and diversifying sources of income for Islamic banks and economy.
As per the CBO report, the Islamic banks’ assets are expected to constitute about 10 per cent of the total assets of banks operating in the Sultanate in 2018. The Islamic banking assets witnessed a remarkable real growth in the third quarter of 2017 (11.6 per cent) with forecasts to maintain the growth rate at about 10 per cent in 2018. — ONA
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