Sunday 08 / June / 2025
Muscat: Efforts to address credit downgrades, support the growing Islamic finance segment and tackle the challenge of delayed payments were among the topics explored by Tahir Salim Al Amri, the Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), at a meeting he had recently with a team from Oxford Business Group (OBG).
Al Amri was talking to the global research and consultancy firm’s representatives as research continues forThe Report: Oman 2019, OBG’s forthcoming publication on the sultanate’s investment opportunities and economic development. The report will feature a wide-ranging interview with Al Amri, in which he will explore these and other topical issues in detail.
Latest monetary policy
In the interview, the CBO’s Executive President analysed the latest monetary policy and banking supervision measures implemented by the bank to help address the current economic challenges.
On March 16, rating’s agency Moody downgraded the long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings of Oman’s government to Baa3 from Baa2, while retaining a negative outlook for the sultanate. It cited an expectation that Oman’s fiscal and external metrics would continue to weaken as the primary reason for the downgrade, adding that slow growth in the coming years would weaken economic resiliency.
Al Amri told OBG’s team that the fiscal reforms introduced, including reductions in subsidies, a rationalisation of expenditure and measures aimed at increasing non-oil revenues, were moving forward. Other topics explored by Al Amri include Oman’s fast-developing Islamic finance segment, which has moved from recording losses in its early days to robust year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 31.8 per cent, or OMR700 million ($1.8 billion) in financing to OMR2.9 billion ($7.5 billion) at the end of September 2017, up from OMR2.2 billion ($5.7 billion) year-on-year. The segment’s total assets were also up in the same period, increasing by 23.8 per cent to reach OMR3.8 billion ($9.8 billion) from OMR3.08 billion ($8 billion).
Islamic liability products
Al Amri told OBG that the introduction of a range of Islamic liability products and better understanding of the structure of their returns had combined to significantly increase inflows. He acknowledged, however, that managing liquidity in the segment remained a challenge.
“We recognise that conventional financial instruments remain unsuitable for the segment,” he told OBG. “With that in mind, we have launched a consultative process with the aim of setting up liquidity management tools, as well as the provision of wakala (agency) arrangements and collateralised partnerships.”
The Report: Oman 2019 will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and other sectoral developments.
Sector-by-sector guide
The publication will contain a detailed, sector-by-sector guide for investors, alongside contributions from leading personalities. It will be produced with the National Centre for Statistics and Information, Ominvest and the law firm, CMS. The report will be available in print and online.
Oxford Business Group is a global research and consultancy company with a presence in over 30 countries, from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to the Americas. A distinctive and respected provider of on-the-ground intelligence on many of the world’s fastest growing markets, OBG has offices in London, Berlin, Dubai and Istanbul, and a network of local bureaus across the countries in which we operate.
