The effective exchange rate index of Omani rial rose by 4.3% to 104.9 points as of the end of March 2019 compared to 100.6 points in the same period of 2018, indicating the currency's enhanced purchasing power.
The Sultanate registered a 3.3% fall in narrow money supply (M1) to reach 5.1 billion rials by the end of March 2019. Meanwhile, broad Money Supply (M2) rose 4.0% to reach 17.1 billion rials during the period as against 16.4 billion rials the previous year, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Total foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman fell by 8.7%, reaching 6.35 billion rials compared to the same period of 2018, when it stood at 6.96 billion rials. Private sector deposits in commercial banks and Islamic windows showed a rise of 2.9% as of the end of March 2019, reaching 14.5 billion rials against 14.1 billion rials in 2018. Total loans and financing in commercial banks rose by 5.7% to 25.4 billion rials by the end of March 2019 against 24 billion rials in 2018.The average interest rate on total credit touched 6.9% at the end of three-month period of 2019, recording a rise of 5.3% in 2019 compared to 5% during the same period in 2018.
The total currency issued till the end of March 2019 stood at 1.63 billion rials against 1.62 billion rials issued in 2018, marking a rise of 0.5%, according to NCSI data.