Oman
Banking sector profile — Middle East & North Africa
Data as of October 2026 • TGB Intelligence Unit
Policy rate as of 7 October 2026: 4.50% (source: Central Bank of Oman)
Banking sector at a glance
Structure and performance
Oman's banking sector is small by GCC standards but expanding quickly. Total assets reached OMR48.7bn (US$126.6bn) at end-2025, up 9.2%, with credit of OMR35.3bn and deposits of OMR34.0bn, according to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). Growth accelerated in 2026: by July credit was up 12.2% year on year at OMR38.3bn and deposits up 13.2% at OMR37.3bn. Bank Muscat reported total assets of OMR15.1bn at end-2025, about 31% of sector assets.
Islamic banking is provided by full-fledged Islamic banks and Islamic windows of conventional banks, with assets of OMR10.0bn (18.9% of the sector) and financing of OMR8.0bn in June 2026. Funding is deposit-based, with sizeable public-sector deposits: government deposits with conventional banks were OMR6.3bn in June 2026 and deposits of public enterprises rose 72.3% year on year to OMR2.9bn. Conventional banks' credit-to-deposit ratio reached 102.9% in June 2026.
Asset quality has improved: the gross NPL ratio eased to 4.4% at end-2025 from 4.5%, with net NPLs at 1.4%. Capital is solid, with a sector capital adequacy ratio of 18.8% against a 13.5% minimum, and the liquidity coverage ratio was 194.2%. Banks' net profits rose 6.8% to OMR565.6mn in 2025, and Bank Muscat's 2025 net profit rose 13.3% to OMR255.5mn.
The rial peg ties domestic rates to the US Federal Reserve: the CBO sets its repo rate at the upper bound of the Fed's target range plus 50bp, so the rate rose to 4.50% after the Fed's increase in September 2026, while conventional banks' average deposit and lending rates eased in the year to July 2026. Key risks are a loan-to-deposit ratio above 100%, borrower and sectoral concentration, and dependence on hydrocarbon revenues for deposit growth.
Structural trends
The shifts shaping banking in Oman.
Credit acceleration: total bank credit rose 12.2% year on year to OMR38.3bn at end-July 2026, with private-sector credit up 11.5% to OMR31.1bn.
Islamic banking reached OMR10.0bn of assets in June 2026, 18.9% of sector assets, with financing up 10.5% year on year to OMR8.0bn.
Tighter liquidity: commercial banks' loans exceeded deposits, with the loan-to-deposit ratio at 102.9% in June 2026.
Bank represented in the TGB Rankings dataset
The bank from Oman included in the TGB Bank Rankings dataset. This table is not a complete ranking of banks in Oman.
| # | Bank | Total assets (US$) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bank Muscat | US$39.3bn | Universal |
Total assets, latest audited financial year (FY2025), consolidated (TGB Rankings), at the peg of OMR0.3845/US$. Bank Muscat reported total assets of OMR15.1bn at 31 December 2025
Supervision and capital rules
The CBO licenses and supervises banks under the Banking Law issued by Royal Decree No. 2/2025, the first comprehensive revision of the law since 2000. Banks must maintain a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 13.5%; the sector ratio was 18.8% at end-2025. Deposits are covered by the Bank Deposit Protection Law and its executive regulation, which the CBO publishes. The CBO has issued a licensing and regulatory framework for Buy Now, Pay Later providers covering licensing, credit policy, governance and disclosure. Monetary policy is anchored by the dollar peg, with the repo rate as the main policy rate.
What changed in 2026
- September 2026: the CBO's 2025 Annual Report showed sector assets of OMR48.7bn, a gross NPL ratio of 4.4% and a capital adequacy ratio of 18.8%.
- September 2026: the CBO repo rate rose by 25bp to 4.50%, in line with its rule of the upper bound of the US federal funds target range plus 50bp, after the US Federal Reserve raised that range to 3.75–4.00% on 16 September.
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