11 hours ago
Insurers' total investment in Oman drops to RO673mn
Muscat – Total investments by insurance companies in Oman amounted to approximately RO673.1mn by the end of 2024, compared to around RO838.6mn at the end of 2023, recording a sharp decline of nearly 20%.
Data issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) indicated that investments by national insurance companies during 2024 stood at approximately RO427.24mn, while investments by foreign insurance companies totalled RO245.86mn, according to an Oman News Agency report.
The financial data showed that national insurance companies' investments were primarily concentrated in bank deposits across general insurance, life insurance, and savings insurance categories in both 2023 and 2024. Investment in bank deposits accounted for 51.4% in 2024, up from 40.5% in 2023.
In contrast, the total investment by national insurance companies in all other investment vehicles combined did not exceed 48.6% in 2024 and 59.5% in 2023.
As for foreign insurance companies, their investments also focused on bank deposits (general, life, and savings), representing 65% in 2024, compared to 65.2% in 2023. Investments in government bonds reached 26% in 2024, up from 24.8% in 2023. The combined percentage of foreign companies' investments in other asset classes did not exceed 9% in 2024 and 10% in 2023.
Statistics issued by the Financial Services Authority revealed that the total return on insurance companies' investments in 2024 fell by 30.1% to just over RO34mn, including RO21.975mn in returns fir national companies and RO12.071mn for foreign companies.
Regarding investment returns by category, returns from real estate increased by 35%, while returns on bank deposits for general and health insurance rose by 17.8%. In contrast, returns on life and savings insurance deposits declined by 22.6%, and returns on government bonds fell by 9.1% between 2023 and 2024.
Investment returns on stocks listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange decreased by approximately 84.2%.
