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Mike CAMUS
Head of International Desk Middle East, Turkey

Support by the
Crédit Agricole group

Last updated: August 2023

Crédit Agricole Group's International Desk in the Middle East mainly provides support to the Group's corporate and professionals clients in Oman for their local operations, specially account openings, financing, issuing market guarantees, information and banking and non-banking advice.

For banking support, the Desk works with Banque Muscat SAOG.

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Means of payment

With Oman

Company cheque

Bank cheque

SWIFT transfer

Documentary remittance

Documentary credit

Usage

Weak

Weak / None

Common

Weak

Common

Common

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Advice from the
international desk

General Information

Oman is a member of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and as such, its economy is open to foreign investors. Since 2020, Oman has been ruled by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Oman's economy is recovering thanks to the easing of the Covid crisis and the sharp rise in oil prices since 2021, as well as higher production and export volumes. In addition, new economic and fiscal reforms have improved public finances and the business environment.

Oman’s economy is dominated by its dependence on oil (65% of GDP), followed by tourism and agriculture.

In January, Oman’s Ministry of Economy unveiled its 10th Five Year Plan (2021-2025) aimed at driving the diversification of the Sultanate’s economy. This is the first executive plan for paving the way to implement the Oman 2040 Vision. One focus of the new plan is to readjust the GDP contribution targets of five key diversification sectors, namely manufacturing, transport & logistics, tourism, fisheries, mining and education.

Following the issuance of a Royal Decree dated 9th December 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources will now be in charge of defining the national strategy for water management & wastewater treatment. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority will be responsible for regulating the electricity and natural gas transmission market, as well as the water & wastewater sector.

The official religion of the Sultanate of Oman is Ibadi Islam, making it the only Muslim country where neither Sunni nor Shia is the dominant strand. This uniqueness on a religious level allows Oman to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and even Israel.

It should be noted that businesses are required to obtain a special license to import certain categories of goods, such as alcohol, livestock, poultry, firearms, narcotics and explosives.

For 2023, we anticipate higher oil revenues and higher FDI (notably Chinese), a lower budget deficit thanks to budgetary reforms (introduction of a 5% VAT) should allow Oman to stabilize its external debt by relative to GDP and probably raising most of its foreign exchange needs on the financial markets.

Means of Payment & Banking Specificities

Since 1986, the country’s currency, the Omani Rial, has been pegged to the US Dollar at a fixed rate.

There are no restrictions on the convertibility of the Omani currency into any other free currency, provided that it is done through licenced legal entities, including banks. There are no exchange or capital controls. Oman’s foreign exchange system is not subject to any restrictions on payments and transfers for international transactions.

Commonly used international payment methods are also available. However, when it comes to importing goods, there are specific procedures and documentary requirements that need to be observed (e.g. rules regarding the relevant import documents and document authentication, as well as specific rules of origin). There are also regulations that may restrict the import of certain products altogether. 

 

Sources : MOCI – Business France – CASA – FMI – CBO

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