Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: The non-oil sector’s contribution to the economy grew by 4.7 per cent to reach OMR14.1 billion at the end of the three-month period ended September 2015, compared with OMR13.5 billion during the same period of 2014, according to a report on the Sultanate's economy for the third quarter released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The growth was driven mainly by a 6.4 per cent increase in high value-added industrial activities, along with a 4.3 per cent rise in agriculture and fisheries and a 4 per cent upswing in services.
Industrial activities registered better results, owing to a marked growth in the construction, electricity and water and mining and quarrying sectors of 17.1 per cent, 13.6 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively. In contrast, value addition by the manufacturing industries fell by 1.6 per cent in the third quarter, compared with the same quarter of 2014.
The services sector grew to OMR9.5 billion in the third quarter, from OMR9.1 billion in the prior year period, propped up by strong real estate, renting and business activities, which grew at 5.8 per cent and also a 5.3 per cent increase in financial intermediation activities. Transport, storage and communications rose 4 per cent, while public administration and defence reflected a growth of 3.9 per cent.
Other services, including health and education posted a growth of 3.6 per cent even as the growth rate in the hotels and restaurants sector stood at 3.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, wholesale and retail trade picked up by 3 per cent in the third quarter of 2015, compared with the corresponding period of 2014.
On the other hand, the petroleum sector’s activities declined by 38.5 per cent to OMR6.9 billion, compared with OMR11.3 billion in the same period of 2014, while natural gas logged a growth of 20 per cent.
Domestic liquidity increased 13.8 per cent in the third quarter, compared with the corresponding period of 2014 to reach OMR14.7 billion.
Total deposits were up 6 per cent to OMR18.1 billion as against OMR17.1 billion in the same period of 2014. Private sector deposits increased by 8 per cent, while public sector deposits rose by 2.9 per cent.
The report also indicated that the total credit (loans) increased by 10 per cent as of the end of September 2015 to reach OMR18.2 billion, up from OMR16.5 billion in 2014. This was due to a 10.2 per cent growth in credit extended to the private sector, which reached OMR15.9 billion, together with an 8.8 per cent growth in credit extended to the government sector (ministries, government bodies and public institutions).
Personal loans accounted for 39.4 per cent of the total bank credit in the third quarter of 2015 at OMR7.2 billion, up by 9.6 per cent, compared with the same quarter of 2014.
Significantly, the average interest rate on total loans in the third quarter of 2015 fell by 5.9 per cent, while real interest rate (average interest rate minus inflation rate) rose to 4.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2015, compared with 3.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.
The real exchange rate for the Omani rial rose by 6.2 per cent to reach 104.5 points by the end of the third quarter, from 98.4 points during the same quarter of 2014.
The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) Index declined by 22.7 per cent to 5787.7 points in the third quarter, compared a year ago in 2014. Turnover fell by 44.7 per cent to OMR946.5 million from OMR1.7 billion in the prior year.
The financial sector constituted the major share of the total trade value at 53 per cent, followed by the industry sector at 30 per cent. The services sector came in at third place, with a share of 15 per cent of the total trade value in the third quarter.
In the tourism sector, revenues at five-star hotels slipped 18.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2015 to OMR14.4 million, compared with OMR17.8 million during the same quarter of 2014. In contrast, four-star hotels revenue jumped by 30.5 per cent during that period.
In terms of the overall price index for producers, prices saw a decline of 25.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2015, compared to the same quarter of the previous year due to lower oil and gas product prices, which increased by 29.4 per cent and non-oil product prices that were up by 4.8 per cent.
The inflation rate rose by 0.14 per cent, compared with the same quarter in 2014.
With regards to foreign trade, the report mentioned that the total value of commodity exports recorded until the end of September 2015 decreased by 33.4 per cent to OMR 3.6 billion as a result of the low value of oil exports increased by 41.5 per cent and non-oil exports increased by 40 per cent during that period.
The value of imports increased by 0.1 per cent during the third quarter to reach OMR 2.8 billion.
With regards to working in the private sector workforce report, it pointed to the high number of Omanis in the private sector up to the end of September 2015 to 207,000 workers up and running, where the number rose by 7.4 per cent, compared with the corresponding period in the year 2014.
The report also stated that the general revenues of the state were recorded in the third quarter of 2015 and decreased by 35.9 per cent to OMR6.7 billion, compared with OMR10.5 billion in the same quarter of 2014.
The Sultanate's public spending of 5.7 per cent also fell to OMR8.8 billion, compared with OMR 9.3 billion in the same quarter of 2014, where it came as a result of the decline in contributions and support increased by 35.9 per cent and current expenditures by 1.8 per cent while investment expenses increased 0.1 per cent.
The report also pointed out that the GDP of the Sultanate at current prices registered a decline to 14.2 per cent until the end of September 2015, compared to the same period in 2014, which fell from OMR23.4 billion until the end of June 2014, to OMR20.1 billion until the end of June 2015. This was due to a significant decline in crude oil prices during that period.
