تصريحات صحفية

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.

H.E. the Governor stressed that CBK maintains keen and continuous monitoring of events and developments in the local and international economic and monetary conditions, and will not hesitate to take any action or measure in order to sustain the foundations of stability in the national economy and maintain the soundness and strength of the domestic banking system.

It may be noted that the discount rate is a pivotal rate to which are linked, within specific margins, the ceilings of KD lending interest rates in the domestic banking and financial units. Accordingly, the cut in the discount rate automatically leads to equal decreases in the maximum KD lending interest rate in the domestic banking and financial units.