Bank lending in Oman grew at its slowest rate of the year to 23.6 per cent in the first five months of 2009 as local banks continued to tighten up credit to the private sector, central bank data showed.

The combined credit extended by the local banks in the five-month period to May 2009, including loans to the government and public sector, rose to RO9.524 billion  ($24.74 billion) from RO7.71 billion compared to the same period in 2008, the slowest growth since January this year.

Bank lending to private sector grew by just 23.3 percent to 8.98 million rials in the five months to May, nearly half the growth rate a year earlier.

Credit to public enterprises climbed by 16 percent in the first five months of 2009 to 462.4 million rials from the same period a year earlier.

Deposits at Omani banks increased by 14.4 percent to 8.676 billion rials in the five months to May.-Reuters