Bank Muscat recently received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Oman to establish a strategic investment fund with a value of up to OMR150 million ($390 million).
The bank stated in a statement that the investment portfolio includes investments in several banks listed on the stock markets in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The investment fund aims to benefit from the general growth trends in the banking sector. The bank seeks to build its investment portfolio gradually over the next few years, depending on the opportunities available in the market.
Central Bank of Oman
In addition, the Central Bank of Oman’s data revealed that total deposits with traditional commercial banks recorded an increase of 9.7 percent, reaching OMR23 billion ($59.7 billion) in November.
Among the total deposits, government deposits with commercial banks recorded an increase of 1.3 percent, reaching about OMR5 billion. Meanwhile, deposits of public sector institutions increased by 37.3 percent, reaching about OMR1.9 billion, during the same period.
Moreover, private sector deposits recorded an 8.5 percent increase, reaching OMR15.4 billion in November 2023. Hence, private sector deposits constituted 66.9 percent of total deposits with traditional commercial banks.
Treasury bills
Earlier, the Central Bank of Oman announced that the total value of government treasury bills allocated for this week amounted to about OMR29.45 million.
The bank explained, in a statement, that the allotted treasury bills had a total value of OMR10 million and a maturity period of 28 days. The average accepted price for each OMR100 reached OMR99.590, while the minimum accepted price was OMR99.590 per OMR100. The average discount rate and yield stood at 5.34464 percent and 5.36665 percent, respectively.
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Bills’ value and interest rates
The Central Bank of Oman added that treasury bills with a value of OMR19.45 million were allotted, with a maturity period of 91 days. The average accepted price per OMR100 was OMR98.660, and the minimum accepted price was OMR98.660 per OMR100. The average discount rate and yield were recorded at 5.37473 percent and 5.44772 percent, respectively.
It is worth noting that the interest rate on Repo operations with the Central Bank of Oman stands at 6.00 percent. Meanwhile, the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with the Central Bank of Oman is 6.50 percent.
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