The management of the National Bank of Oman (NBO) dispelled rumors regarding a possible merger with the Oman International Bank (OIB) as “totally baseless,” reported the Times Business. If materialized, such move could form the largest financial institution in Oman’s overcrowded banking sector.
Earlier this month a merger between Oman’s Bank Dhofar Al-Omani Al-Fransi (BDOF) and Majan International Bank was authorized and is scheduled to come into effect by mid-March 2003.
Headquartered in Muscat, NBO was set up in 1973 and is today one of the largest banks in the Sultanate with a paid up capital of OR 45.8 million ($119 million) and a net worth of OR 112 million ($291 million), as of December 2000. NBO has 55 service centers nationwide, five in Egypt and one in Abu Dhabi. By year-end 2001, NBO’s assets totaled OR 951 million.
OIB is considered the largest local bank in terms of savings deposits and share capital. Launched in 1984, OIB is the first 100-percent Omani-owned commercial bank in the Sultanate. OIB operates 82 branches in the country and four overseas branches at Mumbai and Cochi in India and Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
