The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has introduced the Wakala money market instrument to support the effective management of liquidity by Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows in the Sultanate.
This product is part of a number of Islamic liquidity management instruments that the CBO has developed for Islamic banking entities in Oman, which will be introduced in phases, both for absorbing excess liquidity and for providing liquidity support.
Under the Wakala money market product, Islamic banking entities will place funds with the Central Bank in the US Dollar for a minimum duration of one day to a maximum of 3 months that shall be managed and invested by CBO in shari’a-compliant instruments.
Furthermore, the High Shari’a Supervisory Authority (HSSA) of Oman, which has evaluated and authorized all the product structures and pertinent contracts, has collaborated closely with the Central Bank of Oman to develop these liquidity management instruments.
Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Oman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) in order to conduct an Accelerator Program to support fintech startups in the Sultanate.
The MoU comes in light of CBO’s Oman Fintech Framework and Roadmap which aims at establishing a comprehensive and nurturing fintech ecosystem in Oman that supports and promotes Fintech startups, Small & Medium enterprises (SMEs), Banks, and Technology Firms.
