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 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.

It is important to mention that cutting the CBK's discount rate leads to equal decreases in the maximum KD lending interest rate in the domestic banking and financial units, where as 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.

H.E. the Governor emphasized that the CBK is committed and prepared at this critical point to employ the various available monetary and supervisory instruments to bolster confidence and strengthen the foundations of the monetary and financial stability in the national economy.