Monday 28 / July / 2025
Muscat: The Development Bank approved 3,716 loans in the first half of 2025, with a total value of OMR110 million, marking a 13% growth compared to the same period last year.
This comes as part of the bank’s efforts to achieve the objectives of "Oman Vision 2040", aimed at promoting economic diversification and supporting the private sector.
The bank also seeks to boost investment in productive and service-oriented economic sectors to enhance self-sufficiency in goods, products, and services.
Hamad Salim Al Harthy, Head of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Financing and Portfolio Management at the Development Bank, emphasised that these loans, programmes, and initiatives provided by the bank to productive and service projects contribute significantly to the national economy. They support food security requirements, reduce imports, and encourage individual initiatives among citizens in entrepreneurship, alongside backing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and fostering self-employment.
In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), Al Harthy highlighted that the most prominent sectors financed included the manufacturing sector with a total value of OMR38 million, the general professional services sector with OMR19 million, the agricultural and livestock sector with OMR9 million, the fisheries sector with OMR14 million, and the mining sector with OMR8 million.
He further noted that among the key projects financed by the Development Bank in the first half of this year were those in Muscat Governorate (OMR25 million), South Al Sharqiyah Governorate (OMR14 million), South Al Batinah Governorate (OMR11 million), North Al Batinah Governorate (OMR18 million), and Al Wusta Governorate (OMR8 million).
Al Harthy stated that the increased lending activity of the Development Bank empowers Omani youth to implement their entrepreneurial projects across promising economic sectors. He underlined the bank’s commitment to redoubling its efforts and expanding its services to strengthen its role in enabling the SME sector, increasing its contributions to GDP, and enhancing local value addition.
It is worth noting that the Development Bank strives to provide attractive support and facilities to various sectors in line with the government’s direction to bolster national industries and achieve local value addition.
