SME registrations slip 34% from Jan-Feb this year: NCSI

According to the month-to-month information released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the new registrations of SMEs throughout the initial two months of this year slipped 34.1 per cent to 1,204 units, from 1,826. However, there was a robust 53 per cent development in medium enterprises alone in February 2018 at 26 new units, from 17 new medium enterprises registered compared to the earlier month.

The SME units consist of medium, tiny and micro enterprise enterprises. Among numerous governorates, Muscat saw 448 new SME registrations (or 37 per cent of total registrations in the nation) from January-February this year, as compared to 598 new registrations in the identical period final year, added the report, quoting information from the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada).

The new registrations of SMEs in North Batinah stood at 171 in the initial two months of 2018, against 259 throughout the identical period final year, constituting 14 per cent share in total new registrations from January-February.

While Dakhliyah saw 134 registrations, South Batinah saw 90, Dhofar (86), North Sharqiyah (81), South Sharqiyah (75), Dhahirah (64), Buraimi (39), Al Wusta (12) and Musandam (four). As several as 31,835 new SME units had been registered in 2017, the NCSI report shows. Of this, 10,260 new units had been in the Governorate of Muscat.

Information Source: Muscat Daily