A senior Omani official said that his government will set up an investment worth 150 million rials (some 390 million U.S. dollars) to boost the stock market, which has seen a decline of nearly 50 percent from this year's peak, local Oman Daily Observer reported on Friday.
The fund will be managed by a specialized fund manager on a commercial basis to provide protection from high undue volatility on the securities markets, according to the report.
It will also buy the securities of index listed companies that the management sees their prices are appropriate and sell the securities when prices rise to provide liquidity for investors and generate earnings for the fund.
The Omani government will supply the fund with 60 percent of its capital and the private sector and pension funds will provide the rest of its capital.
The announcement came after Omani Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali Sultan's remark in October that the government was considering setting up a fund to act as "market maker."
"The Ministry of Commerce and Industry took the initiative and invited some financial and banking institutions to contribute to the capital of the fund that aims at striking a balance in the securities market in the Sultanate through investment in securities," a statement by the ministry said.
"The government hopes the establishment of the fund would restore confidence in the investment environment through policies that ensure continued success and development of the securities market as an important instrument of the financial sector," the statement added.
The MSM 30 Index, the benchmark index of Oman's Muscat Securities Market, closed at 6,035.72 on Thursday, down 50.38 percent from the year's highest point of 12,164.54 on June 12. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.385 rial)
Source:Xinhua
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