Saturday 05 / October / 2024
Muscat: Total local liquidity in Oman increased by OMR2.50 billion, to reach OMR23.58 billion by the end of April, a rise of 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2023, according to preliminary statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The data further reveals that total issued cash decreased by 4.6 percent to OMR1.66 billion at the end of April compared to OMR1.75 billion at the end of April 2023.
The narrow money supply, which consists of total cash outside the banking system in addition to current accounts and demand deposits in local currency, increased by 7 percent to OMR6.23 billion at the end of April 2024 compared to OMR5.82 billion at the end of April 2023.
The total foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) also increased by 3.1 percent to OMR6.77 billion by the end of April 2024, compared to OMR6.56 billion by the end of April 2023.
Private sector deposits in commercial banks and Islamic windows amounted to about OMR20.86 billion by the end of April 2024, an increase of 12.4 percent compared to the same period in 2023, which amounted to OMR17.87 billion.
Total loans and financing in commercial banks and Islamic windows witnessed an increase of 2.6 percent at the end of last April, reaching OMR30.81 billion compared to OMR30.25 billion.
The average interest rate on total loans increased by 4.4 percent to record 5.604 percent at the end of April 2024.
The effective exchange rate index of the Omani rial jumped by 3.9 percent to reach 118.4 points by the end of April 2024.
