Oman Housing Bank

By A Staff Reporter -MUSCAT — Darwish bin Ismail al Balushi (pictured), Secretary General, Ministry of Finance and the Board Chairman of Oman Housing Bank (OHB), has hailed the extension of the tenure of the bank by a further 20 years, asset out under the recently promulgated Royal Decree 36/2010. The step, he said, will furtheer reinforce the bank’s mission in ennabling Omanis secure subsidised housing loans.

"His Majesty the Sultan’s sublime confidence reflected in extending OHB’s tenure confirms the great succcesses achieved by the bank during the past years in providing appropriate housing facilities for citizens in the differrent wilayats of the Sultanate and assisting the efforts of the government aimed at ensuring a decent life foor them in the prosperous reign of His Majesty,” Al Darwish said.

"The bank also managed, through its board, executive management and all the staff, to achieve the desired balance between providing soft, easy and subsidised housing services, achieving positive results and maintaining the financial status of the bank by addopting conservative policies and finding various alternatives that provide wide optionss for the citizens according to their income levels,” he added.

Since its establishment in 1977, OHB disbursed a total of 229,613 loans of a total value of RO 509,275,6687 as of end-December 2009. Low income citizens were the biggest beneficiaries, accountinng for 87.2 per cent of the total (25,8827 loans) with a total value RO 414,,641,429. Further, 81.4 per cennt of the loanns, totaling RO 225.602 million were disbursed to applicants outside of Muscat Governorate.


OMAN HOUSING BANK PROVIDES US$76.9 MLN IN LOANS IN 2008.


MUSCAT, April 16 Asia Pulse - In 2008 the Oman Housing Bank provided 1,186 loans worth RO. 29.6 million (US$76.9 million), said Darwish bin Ismail al Balushi, Secretary General of the Finance Ministry and chairman of Oman Housing Bank, in a press statement. Since its inception, the Bank financed the construction of 28,815 houses at a total cost of RO. 487,275,687 including 25,000 houses for the low income individuals, worth of RO. 399 million, he said.

The number of loans provided by the bank to low income individuals amounted to 607 loans worth
RO. 14 million. With 2008 loans provided by the Hosing Bank, the number of loans subsidized by the government and provided by the bank since its inception amounted to 28,815 worth of RO. 487,275,687. This reflected the positive role of Oman Housing Bank and its contribution to the construction
development in the Sultanate. The share of the low income individual is the biggest as the number of subsidized loans granted to them amounted to 25,230 loans worth of RO. 399,013,529, about 87.6 per cent of the total loans availed by the Bank.

Oman Housing Bank also contributes to providing housing loans for citizens who do not meet the requirements to get subsidized loans. The Bank provides these individuals with the opportunity to benefit from the bank's services and find the required finance to have proper accommodations, al Balushi added. The number of loans provided in this field in 2008 amounted to 579 loans, worth of RO. 15,633,100 raising the total number of loans provided by the Bankfor those whose salaries range between RO. 601 to RO. 800, since the introduction of this system in January 1993 till the end of 2008, to 3397 loans worth of RO. 90,978,735.