CBO urges banks not to increase interest rates; Repo rates up 75 basis points

The repo rate for licensed banks operating in the Sultanate of Oman goes by 75 basis points, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) announced here on Wednesday.

It follows the decision of the US Federal Reserve earlier on Wednesday to raise its key policy rate by 75 basis points to the range of (2.25-2.50 per cent) with subsequent hikes to follow this year in order to address the prevailing inflation in the US.

“Accordingly, and after the US Fed’s recent announcement to raise its key policy rate, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) increased its repo rate for local banks at the similar rate of 75 basis points to 3.00 per cent. The repo rate is the policy rate that allows commercial banks to acquire short term liquidity from the Central Bank as the lender of last resort,” the Central Bank said.

It however cautioned banks not to increase the cost of borrowing to consumers given the availability of ample liquidity in the system.

The Central Bank of Oman’s monetary policy target is to sustain and maintain its fixed exchange rate based on RO pegged to the USD. This policy is aligned with the structure and nature of the Omani economy. There are a number of advantages for Oman that are derived from this policy among which are the following: Stability of the Omani Rial; mitigation of capital outflow; and promoting certainty among investors by removing exchange rate risk, the apex bank stated.

The global economy is witnessing rising and sustained inflationary pressure and as such, central banks in a number of countries are attempting to address this pressure by hiking their respective key policy rates with the objective of reducing lending and by default reducing aggregate demand that in turn would translate in reduced consumption. While higher interest rates are expected to lead to lower inflation, in some cases, as related to consumers in high income brackets, they could result in higher savings.

Therefore, and in light of such conditions dominating the global market, key policy interest rates were also hiked by central banks in countries that anchor their monetary policy on fixed exchange rate regimes and in a number of other countries that are experiencing similar inflationary pressure, an explanatory note from the CBO added.