Over 2,000 housing loans to be provided in Oman in 2021

Muscat: More than 2,000 loans totalling OMR100 million will be provided to people by the Oman Housing Bank (OHB) this year.

Adnan bin Haider bin Darwish, the bank’s CEO said that in 2021, people who had submitted their loans between June 1, 2017 and April 1, 2018 would receive their payments. The total number of loans for this period amounts to 2,066.

“The government’s decision to increase loan allocations this year to OMR100 million had a positive impact on people, as it has contributed to decreased waiting times for them to begin receiving their loan payments,” he said, speaking to Oman News Agency. From the time of the bank’s inception until the end of 2020, OHB has provided 46,605 loans amounting to OMR1.2bn. Last year, the bank gave 911 loans worth OMR40.2 million.

While the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt by many in both Oman and around the world, Al Darwish said it didn’t have much effect on the bank’s lending capabilities.

“The bank has taken efforts to assess the conditions of citizens, and their ability to repay their housing loans, in line with the circumstances we are currently facing,” he explained. “We consider analysing these conditions a top priority. However, the pandemic had a limited impact on our lending portfolio, thanks to the efficient management of our financial resources.”