Oman’s broad money supply sees 4.5% growth

Oman’s broad money supply sees 4.5% growth

Muscat: The broad money supply witnessed a growth of 4.5 percent on an annual basis to reach OMR21.6 billion by the end of September 2023.

The monthly bulletin issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) stated that despite the decrease in cash in its narrow sense by 2.9 percent, the increase witnessed in cash in its broad sense is due to the increase in quasi-cash by 7.4 percent, which consists of the sum of savings and time deposits in Omani rials with certificates of deposit. Issued by banks, in addition to security margin accounts and all foreign currency deposits with the banking sector.

The cash reserves at the end of September recorded a decrease of 0.7 percent, while demand deposits witnessed a fall of 3.4 percent.

Regarding the interest rate in traditional commercial banks, the weighted average interest rates on deposits in Omani rials increased from 1.877 percent in September 2022 to 2.453 percent in September 2023, and the weighted average interest rates on loans in Omani Riyals decreased from 5.416 percent to 5.451 percent during the same period.

Additionally, the average interest rates in the overnight interbank lending market recorded an increase of 5.388 percent in September 2023, compared to 3.151 percent