Oman Development Bank funds more than 57,000 projects

 Total loans provided by Oman Development Bank during the period from July 1997 to March 2017 amounted to 57,616 loans in all development sectors with a total value of about OMR466,691,958 with an annual average of 2,881 loans worth OMR23,334,589. The projects financed by ODB range from industrial, commercial, agricultural, fisheries and services (including health, education, tourism and public services sectors). ODB is one of the governmental entities that seek to support the various productive sectors in Oman.

ODB has been keen to keep pace with the successive five-year plans for the period from July 1997 to the first quarter of 2017, believing in its developmental role in the national economy and pushing forward the comprehensive development wheel, which is based on diversification of economic sectors. More than 40.8 per cent of the total value of loans disbursed by the bank since its inception was OMR190,413,396, with loans amounting to 11,413 loans, representing 19.82 per cent of the total number of loans during the same period, for the important economic role of the industrial projects in the national economy, the job opportunities they provide for many citizens, allowing them a decent livelihood. 

The Bank is constantly seeking to help create employment opportunities for Omani youths. The Bank believes that the industrial sector is the most economically viable in the Vision 2020 and is the largest incubator for small and medium enterprises.

Fisheries sector is the most prominent sectors financed by Oman Development Bank. The projects financed by the bank in this promising sector amounted to 27,757 loans at a rate of 48.2 per cent and a total value of OMR95.740.709, representing 20.52 per cent of the total value of loans financed by the Bank between July 1997 and the first quarter of 2017.

The Bank has been keen to allocate about 22.42 per cent of the value of loans it financed with a total of OMR104.609.392, where the number of projects financed by the bank in the service sector during the past twenty years was 4,462 projects with a percentage of 7.75 per cent of the number of projects funded during the same period. Perhaps the big difference between the funding ratio and the number of projects is due to the large financing needed by the service projects.

The number of projects financed by the Bank in the agriculture and livestock sector between July 1997 and the first quarter of this year amounted to about 13,955 projects with 24.23 per cent in terms of the number of funded projects, amounting to OMR75,922,362, representing 16.27 percent of the total value of the funded projects. The sector represents an equitable distribution of wealth throughout the Sultanate, and what it achieves in terms of bridging the food gap, and achieving a real part of food security in the country.

Oman Development Bank has witnessed remarkable growth in the field of development finance since it was established. Between 1998 and 2000, the Bank funded a total of 99,199 projects, with a growth rate of 9 per cent with a total value of OMR21,037,420.

Between 2001 and 2004, there was an increase of 11 per cent in the number of projects and a decrease of 23 per cent in the value of loans. The number of loans financed by the Bank during the period amounted to 3,631 projects valued at OMR11,949,254.

The bank started a steady growth rate between 2005 and 2010 in line with the economic growth experienced by the national economy during that period. The Bank funded 22,668 projects, a growth rate of 31 per cent, with a total value of OMR160,203,233, with a growth rate of more than 70 per cent. The upward growth continued between 2011 and 2015, with the bank achieving a growth rate of around 11 per cent, at a value of OMR205,973,521.

In the same period, the bank funded 22,377 projects with a growth rate of 5 pe rcent. The growth rate for projects in 2016 was about 19 per cent. The number of projects was 5,327 projects with a total value of OMR51,299,691 with a growth rate of 11 per cent.