tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283845125208268798.post7927660645346852029..comments2024-03-27T11:21:40.742+04:00Comments on Muscat Confidential: Easy Credit the rule in the GCC, and OmanUndercover Dragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10577931944980469254noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283845125208268798.post-61084952208161006912011-07-22T21:41:56.275+04:002011-07-22T21:41:56.275+04:00The problem in most of the countries including Oma...The problem in most of the countries including Oman is the number of people expats from all nationalities spending on the cards and leaving the country. How can the banks recover the money from them when they leave for good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283845125208268798.post-8533697494686942752008-08-02T20:43:00.000+04:002008-08-02T20:43:00.000+04:00Oman definitely does not have easy credit. Not the...Oman definitely does not have easy credit. Not the way you describe it. It might be easy to borrow, but it's nothing like the ease of getting credit in the US. For one thing, no bank will give anyone a loan here in Oman if their salary isn't assigned to the bank. While Oman doesn't have credit agencies like in the US, all banks and finance companies have access to a Central Bank database which has information on everyone's loans and borrowings. All banks and finance companies have to update this database on a monthly basis and have to check the database before lending to anyone. The system doesn't give detailed information such as listing which bank the loan is from, but it does give how much total loan, mortgage loan, credit card, etc has been availed by that person from the entire system.<BR/><BR/>The central bank sets the maximum debt burden which can be taken by individuals. If the debt burden is 60% then once a person's total installments reach 60% of his salaries he can't borrow anymore from any bank or finance company. They have to check the system first to check before approving the new loan.<BR/><BR/>This is totally different than how it is in the US, for example, where credit card companies bombard individuals with pre-approved credit cards. People there can very easily get in debt over their heads and then have no way of paying. Here, you can get heavily in debt, and more and more of your salary gets taken by the bank or finance company, but not to the point where even if your entire income is taken you still can't cover the interest on your loans, as happens very often in the US. When I was a student in the states, I didn't have any income other than my monthly stipend of $775 from the Ministry of Higher Education and whatever my family sends me from time to time. And yet I had credit cards with limits of about $10,000 plus an American Express green card, not counting store cards. This is 15 years ago, before American banks went crazy with credit. After I graduated friends of mine who were still in the US started getting pre-approved platinum cards with limits as high as $25,000.<BR/><BR/>When I came back to Oman, the bank that I worked for refused to give me a credit card till I completed a year with them and even then they give me a limit of two times my salary, which was less than the smallest limit I had in the US.<BR/><BR/>Borrowing in Oman is always collaterized, regardless whether it's a salary alone against a person's assigned salary, a car loan against co-registration over a vehicle, or a housing loan against a mortgage on a house. I see nothing wrong with bank credit growing as an effect of people owning their own houses. The big fear is when things go like they usually go in Kuwait and people borrow against their salaries without any specific reason. They take big loans just to spend money. Once the money's spent they end up paying a large percentage of their salaries to the bank with nothing to show for it. And as happens in Kuwait, they then go cry to the government asking it to pay off their debt.muscatihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15955758251080080159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283845125208268798.post-30815381422259387102008-08-02T13:14:00.000+04:002008-08-02T13:14:00.000+04:00Kuwait has set the lead many times – forgiveness o...Kuwait has set the lead many times – forgiveness of debts for Nationals. The bigger the debt the more your creditor has to accommodate you….Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com