17.12.08 Press Statement

CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 3.75%

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors decided to cut the CBK discount rate by 50 basis points from 4.25% to 3.75% effective from Wednesday the 17th of December 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that this decision comes within the continuous steps by CBK in its efforts to strengthen the local environment to face the challenges of the global financial crises.

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17.11.08 Press Statement

CBK Board Decisions to Resolve Gulf Bank Crisis

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, stated that the CBK Board of Directors held a meeting on Sunday the 16th of November 2008. The Board discussed measures to strengthen shareholders' equity at the Gulf Bank, in view of the results of the external auditors report assigned to carry out an audit of the bank as of end October 2008, in order to determine the magnitude of the loss suffered by the Gulf Bank following the declaration on 26 October 2008 that the bank suffered a loss as a result of its trading in financial derivatives on behalf of its clients.

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03.11.08

Law No. 30/2008 Concerning Guarantee of Deposits at Local Banks in the State of Kuwait Comes into Effect

Law No. 30/2008 Concerning Guarantee of Deposits at Local Banks in the State of Kuwait came into effect on 3-11-2008. The Law consists of 3 articles the first of which states that:

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30.10.08 Press Statement

CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 4.25%

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors has decided to cut the CBK discount rate by 25 basis points from 4.50% to 4.25% effective from Thursday the 30th of October 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that the decision is based on the close and continuous monitoring by CBK of the current local and international economic, monetary and banking conditions, and was made to bolster confidence in the national economy and strengthen the role of the banking system in meeting the funding requirements of local economic sectors.

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28.10.08 Press Statement

Government Submits to National Assembly a Draft Law to Guarantee Local Bank Deposits.

The Council of Ministers has submitted on an urgent basis to the National Assembly a draft law concerning the State guarantee of customer deposits with local banks. This law will infuse added confidence in the soundness of the banking system.

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28.10.08 Press Statement

Gulf Bank Has Closed All Financial Derivative Transactions on Account of its Customers

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that on the basis of data reported to CBK on Tuesday 28 October 2008 by the Gulf Bank and the controller appointed to supervise the activities of this bank in management of the treasury department and dealings in the exchange and securities markets, all transactions in financial derivatives on behalf of customers have been closed, and that currently the Gulf Bank does not have any such transactions on behalf of its customers.

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27.10.08 Press Statement

Gulf Bank

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that in view of the rumors circulating about losses in some local banks resulting from their transactions in derivative contracts, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) would like to affirm that it has examined all other banks and found non of these local banks incurring any losses in such transactions. H.E. the Governor said, regarding the Gulf Bank and in order to fully reassure the bank depositors CBK reiterates its financial support to the bank and protection of all deposits with it regardless of their type. In addition there is going to be an urgent bill to announce State guarantee of deposits with all local banks.

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26.10.08 Press Statement

Gulf Bank

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that CBK received information from the Gulf Bank, at end of business on Thursday 23 October 2008, that some of its clients suffered financial losses in their transactions through the bank involving derivative contracts. The Gulf Bank pointed out that these losses resulted from the drop of the Euro's exchange rate against the US dollar.

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16.10.08 Press Statement

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Board of Directors issued a number of resolutions concerning the supervisory instructions directed to banks.

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Board of Directors in its meeting held on 8 October 2008 issued a number of resolutions concerning the supervisory instructions directed to banks. These resolutions resulted from the meticulous efforts that CBK exerts to monitor the extraordinary developments and circumstances caused by the crisis striking world financial markets, and in view of the constant review by CBK of its supervisory instructions issued to units under its supervision to update and conform them to economic and financial developments internally and externally. The resolutions include raising the maximum limit for the ratio of credit facilities to deposits from 80% to 85%, increasing the rate of growth set for bank credit portfolios during 2008 by 5 percentage points for each bank, and considering real estate as one of the acceptable items for the collateral qualified for inclusion in the calculation of the capital adequacy ratio. The CBK Board explained that it is closely monitoring the developing situation, and emphasized its readiness to take necessary measures to boost confidence and strengthen monetary and financial stability in the national economy.

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16.10.08 Press Statement

Governor Meets Local Bank Chairmen

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) met, on Wednesday the 15th of October 2008, the board chairmen of local banks. The purpose of the meeting was to emphasize the importance of the role played by local banks, in their financial transactions with investment companies, to ensure uninterrupted flow of funds into the economy and reinforce the stability of the financial market. In this meeting, H.E. the Governor underlined a number of important aspects of the banking business, at this stage, which included the following:

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11.10.08 Press Statement

Governor of CBK Receives the Award of "Central Bank Governor of the Year 2008, Middle East"

Emerging Markets magazine has chosen Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of CBK for receiving the award of "Central Bank Governor of the Year 2008, Middle East". The Ambassador of the State of Kuwait in Washington DC, Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, received the award on behalf of the Governor during a ceremony held on the 10th of October 2008 during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC (USA).

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08.10.08 Press Statement

CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 4.5%

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors has decided, in its meeting on 8-10-2008, to cut the discount rate by 125 basis points from 5.75% to 4.5% effective from Wednesday the 8th of October 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that the decision resulted from CBK's close monitoring of the fast evolving local, regional and international developments related to the crisis gripping international securities markets, and the need to strengthen the domestic front to confront the potential impacts of that crisis.

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24.09.08 Press Statement

The Central Bank of Kuwait will be hosting the proceedings of two workshops during the period 7-8 October, 2008 on the two standards set by Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) concerning risk management, and corporate governance in institutions offering Islamic financial services

The Central Bank of Kuwait will be hosting the proceedings of two workshops on the two standards set by Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) concerning risk management, and corporate governance in institutions offering Islamic financial services. These workshops will be held in the Coral Hall at the Marina Hotel during the period 7 - 8 October 2008. These events come in the context of the IFSB function to organize and hold various working group workshops in member countries to promote awareness and facilitate implementation of the standards developed and set by it.

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22.09.08 Press Statement

CBK Board of Directors reviews developments in the Kuwait Stock Exchange

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) held a meeting on Sunday the 21st of September 2008, chaired by CBK Governor H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, in which recent developments in the Kuwait Stock Exchange were discussed. The Board reviewed the local, regional, and international factors influencing activity in the market, in the light of the latest available data and information. The Board concluded that it is important to stress the following points:

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17.06.08

Registration of a Bank Branch (Doha Bank of Qatar) in the CBK Bank Register

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), stated that on 12th of June 2008 the Minister of Finance issued the Decision No. (23) regarding the registration of Doha Bank branch in the CBK Bank Register. Accordingly, the registration was made on that date.

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10.06.08

Preliminary Approval to Licensing Mashreq Bank of the United Arab Emirates to Open a Branch in the State of Kuwait

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), stated that the CBK Board of Directors, in its meeting on 10th of June 2008, preliminarily agreed to license Mashreq Bank, a conventional bank from the United Arab Emirates to open a branch in the State of Kuwait.

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22.05.08

Provisional Balance of Payments of the State of Kuwait for the Year 2007

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07.05.08

H.E. the Governor Issues a Press Statement on Inflation

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) emphasized the need for concerted efforts by many parties and for consistent economic policies to contain increasing inflationary pressures in the national economy at the current stage. He explained in a special press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the continued increase in the general level of domestic prices, i.e. price inflation, represents a national challenge. It results from various internal and external factors. He illustrated that increased inflationary pressures meant by definition reduced purchasing power, which makes fighting these pressures a primary objective of the monetary policy of the CBK in both the medium and long runs, stressing at the same time the role that other general economic policies may play in this regard.

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04.05.08 Press Statement

The Preliminary Approval to Licensing Muscat Bank of the Sultanate of Oman to Open a Branch in the State of Kuwait

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has stated that the CBK Board of Directors, in its meeting on 4th of May 2008, preliminarily agreed to license Musqat Bank of the Sultanate of Oman to open a branch in the State of Kuwait.

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26.03.08 Press Statement

Announcement of a Seminar on Financial Inquiry Units and Their Applications

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and Chairman of Kuwait Financial Inquiry Unit (KFIU) declared to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that CBK and KFIU in collaboration with the US Treasury Department are organizing a seminar titled "The Financial Inquiry Units and their Applications" during the period from 31st of March to 2nd of April 2008 in the Zumurruda Hall at the Kuwait Sheraton Hotel.

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24.03.08

CBK Decides to Make Fundamental Changes to its Consumer and Installment Loans Instructions. New Instructions would Curb Growth of these Loans to the Benefit of Citizens, and will Apply Only to New Loans

Main Changes: Cutting Profit Margin Above the Discount Rate + Monthly Installment Not to Exceed 40% of Net Salary of the Employed and 30% of the Pensioners + Fixed Interest to be Reviewed Every Five Years for Installment Loans

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24.03.08

H.E. the Governor Announces CBK's Preliminary Approval to Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Al-Rajhi Bank) of Saudi Arabia to Open a Branch in Kuwait

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has stated that the CBK Board of Directors, in its meeting on 23rd of March 2008, has decided to approve in principle the licensing of Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Al-Rajhi Bank) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to open a branch in the State of Kuwait.

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23.01.08

CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 5.75%

H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors has decided to cut the CBK discount rate by 50 basis points to 5.75% from 6.25% effective from Wednesday, 23rd of January 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that the decision resulted from the continued surveillance by CBK of the developments in interest rates on major international currencies, particularly the US dollar, to ensure having consistent local interest rates on the Kuwaiti dinar (KD), taking into account the current domestic economic conditions.

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