Press Releases
Statement on the Local Economic, Financial and Banking Developments
As part of the Central Bank of Kuwait's continuous monitoring of all economic and monetary variables and indicators in international markets and geopolitical developments, and effects thereof on the global economic conditions and the performance of the local economy, and their implications on the policy response, considering the conditions of each economy, and the nature of our national economy, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) released a statement indicating that its current assessment of the available local economic and financial data and information demonstrate the continued safety and resilience of monetary and financial stability in the State of Kuwait.
In terms of monetary policy developments, CBK had adopted a gradual approach for the monetary tightening cycle during the past period that ensured the optimal balance of its objectives aimed at maintaining monetary and financial stability and boosting economic growth. Since March 2022, CBK has raised its discount rate nine times by a cumulative 275 basis points to 4.25% on July 26, 2023, in line with its monetary policy that stands appropriate to the local economic conditions and contributes to controlling inflation and stabilizing growth in the non-oil sectors. Moreover, the exchange rate regime provides relative flexibility, and serves as an anchor for the monetary policy. It’s worth noting that resilience of the Kuwaiti banking sector has a very prominent role thanks to the CBK’s prudent regulatory requirements and judicious lending and provisioning practices, as mentioned in the Concluding Statement issued on October 10, 2024 by the International Monetary Fund’s Mission to the State of Kuwait.
Based on its vigilant monitoring of the most important developments in local and global economic indicators, and given the end of the monetary tightening cycle in most global central banks, CBK lowered the discount rate by 25 basis points to 4.00% on September 19, 2024.
CBK concluded its statement by reiterating its close monitoring of the economic and monetary developments in international markets to assess their potential effects on the local economy, and that it shall take the necessary measures and adopt the monetary policy instruments in line with a balanced and gradual approach in order to consolidate monetary and financial stability and promote economic growth in the State of Kuwait.
