Press Releases
Main Developments in the Balance of Payments of the State of Kuwait for the Year 2009
The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has finished compiling the provisional figures for the Balance of Payments (BOP) of the State of Kuwait for 2009 and revising the BOP data for the period 2007-2008. Provisional BOP figures for 2009 show a decline in the surpluses realized in the main external balances during that year, compared to 2008. The surplus realized in the Current Account (which reflects the outcome of transactions between the domestic economy and other economies involving goods, services, investment income, and unrequited current transfers) declined by 49.2% to reach KD 8232.3 million during 2009, compared with KD 16194.8 million during 2008.
The decrease in the Current Account surplus of the State of Kuwait BOP during 2009 over the previous year was mainly an outcome of the decline in the Balance on Goods surplus by 44.4%.
Regarding the developments in the Financial Account, the growth in the net value of assets invested abroad and recorded under that account decelerated during 2009, compared with the previous year. Specifically, the Financial Account recorded an increase of KD 7324.2 million in the net value of assets invested abroad during 2009, compared with KD 13788.7 million during 2008.
As a result of the above-mentioned developments, the overall surplus in the BOP of the State of Kuwait reached KD 1088.4 million during 2009, compared with a surplus of KD 171.5 million during 2008.
When the overall position of the State of Kuwait BOP is considered from a broader perspective to encompass the change in the net value of external assets of some government institutions recorded under the "General Government" item, along with the change in total reserve assets of the CBK, the overall position of the Balance of Payments shows a surplus of KD 4593.3 million during 2009, compared with a surplus of KD 8420 million during the previous year.
