The Middle East

Backed up by strong macroeconomic fundamentals and the sultanate’s reputation for stability and sound financial management, Oman’s banking sector is now starting a period of substantial change. In 2012-13, Islamic banks will enter the field for the first time, bringing heightened competition for deposits and loans, while also bringing wider...

With its lengthy coastline running along the edge of a sometimes mountainous and often desert interior, Oman is a country of many different aspects. It is both an ancient maritime power and a key desert sultanate, a place both open to the modern world and that preserves a strong sense of tradition and culture. Indeed, while many countries are...

With a well-capitalised banking system and minimal exposure to European debt, the Omani economy is progressing relatively unscathed by the economic gloom prevailing elsewhere. Thanks to a surplus in the first half of 2012, the sultanate has managed to roll out significant counter-cyclical spending measures while keeping its budget in order....

Oman was once in great need of development in all fields, and we understand that in order to achieve the goal of human and social development in all areas of the sultanate, it has been necessary to establish solid infrastructure on which development plans and programmes will be based. This is particularly true in the fields of education, health...