 <p>It is just formatting the output in your client.</p> <p>For example, in SQL*Plus set <strong>numformat</strong>:</p> <pre><code>SQL&gt; set numformat 999.99 SQL&gt; SELECT CAST((600.2) AS NUMERIC(28,2)) FROM DUAL; CAST((600.2)ASNUMERIC(28,2)) ---------------------------- 600.20 </code></pre> <p>You could also use <strong>TO_CHAR</strong>, but use it only to display, for any number arithmetic you should leave the number as it is.</p> <pre><code>SQL&gt; select to_char(600.2, '000.00') from dual; TO_CHAR ------- 600.20 </code></pre>