Bank Muscat may book writedown on Pakistan bank in Q4

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bank Muscat BMAO.OM, Oman's largest lender by market value, on Wednesday said it may have to write-down a significant part of its 23.4 million rials ($60.79 million) investment in Pakistan's Silkbank bank in the fourth quarter.

Bank Muscat has a 35-percent stake in Silkbank, which is planning a rights issue. But the Omani bank said it will not participate "as regulatory approvals in Oman have not been forthcoming."

Bank Muscat expects its Silkbank stake to be diluted and as a result "it is likely that the bank could write down a significant part of this investment of RO 23.4 million during the last quarter of 2009," it said in a statement on the Muscat bourse.

(Reporting by Nicolas Parasie)