Press Releases

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 raise the discount rate by a quarter percentage point to 6% from 5.75% effective from 2 November 2005. H.E. the Governor explained that the decision was in line with the CBK efforts to strengthen monetary stability in the national economy and check inflationary pressures. He added that the continued surveillance by CBK of domestic monetary, banking and economic developments on the one hand, the trends in interest rates on international currencies, particularly the US dollar on the other hand, revealed a need to raise the discount rate to maintain the competitiveness of the Kuwaiti Dinar to attract local savings after taking into account the exchange rate peg between the Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) and the US dollar, and the upward trend in US interest rates.

H.E. the Governor concluded his statement by emphasizing that CBK continues to monitor developments of domestic interest rates and stands ready to take action whenever necessary, using monetary policy instruments at its disposal, in order to ensure monetary stability and to keep inflationary pressures under cap, thus supporting the competitiveness of the national currency as interest rates trend upward for major currencies.