Insurance in the sultanate hardly affected by the crisis

The latest report published by the authorities in Oman has revealed that insurance continues to grow in 2008. The local insurers, having diversified their placements consistently, maintained their solvency and were not exposed to financial products risks related to credits. In comparison with the previous year, the 2008 direct premiums have risen by 25.1% in non-life insurance and by 29.7% in life insurance reaching respectively 167.2 million OMR (437 million USD) and 41.1 OMR (107 million USD).

During the same period, companies' assetshave attained 423.6 million OMR (1 107 million USD), that is, an increase of 18.8%. The number of insurance companieshas gone up from 1 318 in 2007 to 1 643 in 2008.