“Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is the absolute master of all industry and commerce”
- James A Garfield, former US President (1881)

The combined assets of the top five banks in Oman stood at US$12.26bn in 2005 – a definitive indicator of the strength of the banking sector in the sultanate. The year saw each bank charting its own strategy to leverage the growth in the economy. Oman Arab Bank rode the crest of big-ticket infrastructure projects to emerge as the number one bank. An aggressive retail thrust helped Oman International Bank jump ranks. For BankMuscat, it was a year of looking beyond Oman.

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has played a significant role in strengthening the fundamentals of the sector – from moving banks towards Basel II norms to putting in place an early warning system. H E Hamood Sangour al-Zadjali, executive president, CBO, and one of the principal architects of these initiatives, spoke to BusinessToday about the central bank’s plans.

The ranking of finance companies, a sector which was introduced in the last survey, has seen some dramatic changes. A noticeable trend was the growing importance of SMEs as a lending option.

Also see the interview with David Hamod, president and CEO of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, who makes a strong case for discarding stereotypes to realise the true potential of US-Arab trade.

Mohana Prabhakar
Managing editor