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COVID-19 coronavirus is here to stay. This is a painful fact none of us can ignore anymore. Central banks around the world have been using various mixes of fiscal and monetary policies to contain the harmful effects of the pandemic. As the pandemic is expected to last much longer than we could have anticipated, governments …
COVID-19 and oil price collapse are proving a double-edged sword to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The World Bank recommends these countries to prioritize their focus on handling the COVID-19 virus pandemic and the impending recession resulting from the virus and a sharp decline in the oil price. A recent study done by The …
RIYADH: Commerce ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held a virtual meeting to discuss the economic impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the region. Overseeing the provision and smooth flow of essential basic commodities to citizens of their countries was highlighted as one of the key roles of the respective ministries. The …
Dubai: Islamic banking in Oman is growing at a faster rate than conventional banking segment, with Islamic banking assets up more than 62 per cent year on year, according to a recent report issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). Total assets held by Islamic banks and the Islamic banking windows of conventional lenders …
Muscat: Alizz Islamic Bank has expressed an interest in a merger with the United Finance Company, which is subject to due diligence of the latter institution. United Finance Company has forwarded the proposal from Alizz Islamic Bank to its board, the company said in a disclosure statement posted on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) website. …
International law firm Clifford Chance has advised the Government of the Sultanate of Oman on its return to the international debt capital markets with the establishment of an unlimited sukuk-al-ijara trust certificate issuance programme and a drawdown of $2 billion trust certificates due 2024 thereunder. The transaction settled on June 1 and marks the largest …
Muscat: Alizz Islamic Bank signed an agreement with Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) to provide Islamic financing facilities for the construction of a petroleum coke (petcoke) storage facility at the company’s refinery complex in Sohar. This is the first agreement of its kind in which Orpic avails sharia-compliant financing. Alizz Islamic Bank …
Meethaq Islamic financing receivables rose to OMR 902 million of 31 March 2017 compared to OMR 665 million in the same period of 2016. Islamic banking customer deposits amounted to OMR 780 million as of 31 March 2017 compared to OMR 678 million reported for the same period in 2016. Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic …
Oman plans to sell $2 billion of Islamic bonds this month as it seeks to trim a large budget deficit caused by lower oil revenue, Finance Minister Darwish Al Balushi said. The crude exporter’s budget deficit will reach 12 percent of economic output this year and it will continue to narrow in the coming years, …
Muscat: Bank Muscat’s Meethaq Islamic financing receivables rose to OMR902 million, as of March 31, 2017, compared with the OMR665 million in the same period last year. Islamic banking customer deposits reached OMR780 million as of March 31, 2017, compared with OMR678 million reported for the same period in 2016. The Meethaq network has grown …
Muscat – In line with its core values of supporting the community in the sultanate and developing employment opportunities for Omani youth, Sohar Islamic, Bank Sohar’s Islamic banking window, recently participated in the third Intercollegiate Career Fair. The event was organised by Waljat College of Applied Sciences (WCAS) in association with many colleges in the country and …
Bank Nizwa announced the appointment of Dr. Mansour Ali Muhammad Alqudah as its new Head of Shari’a compliance. In his new role, Alqudah will be overseeing the bank’s implementation of Shari’a-compliant operations. He will also be working closely with the bank’s Shari’a Supervisory Board to streamline the most transparent practices across the bank’s portfolio of …
Bank Nizwa launched the 2017 edition of its ‘Islamic Finance Knowledge Series’ with several workshops in the Governorates of Al Dhahirah, North Al Sharqiyah and South Al Sharqiyah as part of its longstanding dedication to share the benefits of Shari’ah-compliant banking with local communities. The bank reached out to a number of segments throughout the beginning of …
OMAN – Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, signed an agreement to provide Islamic project finance for Dar Al Tomouh company to set up the Sultanate’s first-of-its-kind commercial contract chicken farming project in the wilayat of Nizwa. The project with an annual production capacity of 3.74 million kg live chicken …
Reflecting its position as the Sultanate’s leading Islamic financial institution, Bank Nizwa was named the ‘Best Performing Islamic Bank in Oman’ for the second year in a row during the 23rd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC). The Bank was awarded the prestigious accolade after receiving top aggregate scores on the innovative WIBC Leaderboard, which …
Net Interest Income from Conventional Banking and Income from Islamic financing stood at OMR 68.04 million for the three months of 2016 compared to OMR 61.56 million for the same period in 2015, an increase of 10.5 per cent. Non-interest income at OMR 40 million was higher by 10.5 per cent compared to OMR 36.19 …
The Middle East and Africa region is more focused than ever on developing its hospitality infrastructure with 538 hotels totaling 151,771 rooms under contract in the ME and 321 hotels totaling 62,194 rooms under contract in Africa, said a report. Makkah, Saudi Arabia, reported the largest number of rooms under construction with 21,068 rooms in …
Muscat: Oman’s Islamic financial institutions are showing robust growth with the value of gross assets touching OMR2.25 billion by the end of 2015, accounting for a 7.45 per cent market share of the total banking industry, said Hamoud Sangour Al Zadjali, executive president of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). Islamic banks and window operations …
Bank Nizwa has partnered with Islamic Finance News (IFN), a leading online journal specialized in reporting on the global Islamic financial markets, to bring its renowned industry seminar to the Sultanate for the first time. Set to kick-off on March 8th 2016 at the Grand Hyatt Muscat, the event is titled “IFN Oman Seminar & …
Muscat: – Oman plans to establish its first budget airline to boost tourism as the plunge in global oil prices encourages the country to diversify its economy beyond oil and gas production. Muscat National Development and Investment Co (MNDIC) – a venture involving the Muscat municipal government and several state funds including the State General …
Dubai: The banking industry in the GCC is facing huge challenges in meeting the customer expectations in digital experience and delivering banking service over smart phones, according to the EY GCC Digital Banking Report 2015. “Although many GCC countries like the UAE have some of the highest smart phone penetration in the world, our study …
Muscat – Continuing the fast-paced growth in Oman’s Islamic banking industry, the total assets of Islamic banks and windows reached to RO2bn as of September 2015. The share of Islamic banking in the sultanate’s total banking assets rose to 6.5 per cent in September 2015, according to latest statistics released by the Central Bank of Oman …
Nov 9 (Reuters) – Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) plans to sell 50 million rials ($130 million) of Islamic bonds by early 2016 in what would be the country’s second corporate sukuk issue, a top executive said on Monday. Funds raised will be used to build a new headquarters for the majority state-owned firm, which is …
The 200 million rial ($520 million), five-year sukuk issue with an ijara format drew 22 orders totalling 336 million rials during the subscription period. Oman’s first issue of sovereign Islamic bonds has received strong orders ahead of its final pricing on Tuesday, state news agency ONA quoted an official as saying on Sunday. The 200 …
