Oman

The inhabitants of the area of Oman have long prospered on Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, a newly established sultanate in Muscat signed the first in a series of friendship treaties with Britain. Over time, Oman's dependence on British political and military advisors increased, but it never became a British colony. In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al-Said overthrew the restrictive rule of his father; he has ruled as sultan ever since. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world while preserving the longstanding close ties with the UK. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all Middle Eastern countries.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Rial (ISO code: OMR)
 * Central bank discount rate: 0.91% (31 December 2008)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 7.1% (31 December 2008)
 * Stock of money (M1): $5.25 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $14.57 billion (31 December 2008)

Links

 * Oman on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Oman
 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile