Oman’s Islamic banks have achieved robust growth in finance, which crossed OMR1.6 billion by the end of November 2015. The Islamic banks and window operations achieved 65.49% growth in finance Y-o-Y, which touched OMR1,644.5 million by end-November 2015, versus OMR993.7 million for the same period last year. “Islamic banks grew very well last year, and the trend is continuing this year as well,” Ali Hamdan Al Raisi, vice president, Central Bank of Oman, told the Times of Oman. He said there is still space for Islamic banks to grow further, although there are challenges ahead. Total customer deposits held by Islamic institutions also shot up by 196% to OMR1,454 million by end-November 2015, from OMR491.2 million for the same period last year, according to the latest monthly bulletin released by the Central Bank of Oman. (Times of Oman)