​Muscat, 27 January 2018

The Meethaq Shari'a Supervisory Board led by Sheikh Dr. Ali Qaradaghi, Chairman, held the first meeting of 2018 at Bank Muscat Head Office, attended by the board members  and Sulaiman  Al Harthy, Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Islamic Banking. The meeting reviewed the 2017 financial results, new products and services in the pipeline for 2018.

Sulaiman Al Harthy said: “The Meethaq Shari'a Supervisory Board discussed many important topics to consolidate the leading position of Meethaq Islamic Banking. Meethaq is focused on developing as a benchmark for Islamic banking and finance in Oman and the region. Within four years of operations, Meethaq has crossed RO 1 billion in assets and consolidated its leadership position, recording many achievements contributing to the growth and development of the Sultanate's economy. The Meethaq Shari'a Supervisory Board has made valuable contributions in establishing Meethaq as the leading Islamic banking service provider in Oman."

Meethaq maintains leadership position in the Islamic banking industry in Oman in terms of financing receivables, branch network, products and services, IT infrastructure and human resources. Meethaq financing receivables rose to RO 970 million in 2017 compared to RO 855 million in 2016, recording an increase of 13.5 per cent. Meethaq customer deposits rose to RO 960 million in 2017 compared to RO 763 million in the previous year, registering an increase of 25.8 per cent.  As part of its focus to expand operations across the Sultanate and offer world-class Islamic banking experience to customers, Meethaq has widened its state-of-the-art branch network to 19.

Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic banking and finance worldwide to combine a robust model which protects customers and complements the Islamic banking industry. Every Meethaq product goes through the process of Shari'a compliance certification by the Shari'a Supervisory Board and is created in line with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Oman.

In recognition of outstanding achievements in Islamic banking, Meethaq has won prestigious local, regional and global awards. The recent accolades include the Best Islamic banking window in Oman award by Islamic Business & Finance. The success of Meethaq stems from its commitment to offer world-class Islamic banking service to customers.