Press Releases

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued a special report titled “A Decade between Two Crises” to document its efforts and responses to the key shifts in global finance and the banking industry during 2010-2020, and its proactive approach in prudently reinforcing the resilience of the banking sector.

In a statement, the CBK said that the repercussions of the global financial crisis including the European debt, decline in oil prices, and coronavirus pandemic, have placed additional responsibilities on the regulatory authorities and central banks to maintain macro-prudential policies and strengthen the resilience of the banking sector, which were considered by the CBK in advance.

The report highlights the recognition by the international institutions and credit rating agencies of the CBK’s role in maintaining monetary stability, which is measured by the KD exchange rate, deposits, attractiveness of the KD as a store of domestic savings, and the other indicators that reflect the CBK’s prudent monetary policy.

The CBK was one of the first central banks that implemented Basel III guidelines in an initiative to maintain financial stability and reinforce the resilience of the Kuwaiti banking sector. The CBK’s prudent and proactive policy allowed the sector to withstand all crises from a position of strength, including the pandemic.

In addition, the report addresses various points such as: the CBK’s pandemic measures, the CBK’s institutional changes, indicators of excellent performance, and national capacity building, digitalization efforts, CBK’s role in future-proofing the sector by enabling innovation and Fintech, and the adoption of instruments in macroeconomic research, and monetary, macro-prudential and regulatory policies to enhance forecasts and analyses.

The statement concluded that the report can be viewed through the CBK’s official website:

• "A Decade between Two Crises" - (Arabic)