The assets of the Islamic banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman jumped by 10.7 percent during the period between January and March last year on an annual basis, reaching more than 6 billion riyals ($ 15.65 billion).
The total financing provided by the Islamic banking sector grew by about 9.6 percent to reach about 12.8 billion dollars, which constitutes 17.6 percent of the total credit provided by the banking sector in the first three months and amounted to 72.8 billion dollars.
The volume of Islamic banking deposits increased by 11.6 percent to reach $11.5 billion, which constitutes about 17.6 percent of the total sector deposits as a whole, which at the end of last March amounted to $67.5 billion. Bank deposits in the Islamic banking sector constitute about 17.2 percent of the total bank deposits, which at the end of last March amounted to 25.9 billion Omani riyals.
The banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman includes 7 local commercial banks, two specialized government banks and two Islamic banks. Also operating in the country are nine branches of foreign banks. The assets of the Islamic banking field represent about 15.3 percent of the total assets of the banking sector, which at the end of last March amounted to 39.3 billion riyals (102.5 billion dollars).
Source (Al-Arab Newspaper of London, Edited)
