Press Releases

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) published today the preliminary data of the Balance  of Payments (BOP) of the State of Kuwait for 2015 and the revised data of 2014 in coherence with the guidelines of the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual issued by the International Monetary Fund in 2009 (BPM6). Preliminary data of the State of Kuwait’s BOP of 2015 show a decline in the surpluses of the external balances. The Current Account (reflecting the outcome of transactions between domestic economy and other economies encompassing goods, services, Primary Income “investment income”, and Secondary Income “current transfers”) realized a surplus of KD 1797 million (3.9% of nominal 2014 GDP) during 2015 against KD 15479 million during 2014 (33.2% of nominal 2014 GDP). The decline in the current account surplus reflects mainly the decrease in the value of oil exports which in addition to the rise in merchandise imports led to a drop in the surplus of the Balance on Goods (merchandise exports minus merchandise imports on f.o.b. basis) to reach KD 8419 million during 2015 compared to KD 22059 million during the previous year on the one hand, and the increase in the deficit on the services account to reach KD 5774 million during 2015 compared to KD 5148 million during the previous year on the other.

The developments in the Financial Account of the State of Kuwait’s BOP during 2015 demonstrate a slower growth in the net value of recorded external assets owned by residents to reach KD 2066 million during 2015 against KD 16354 million during the previous year.

As a result of the developments in the main BOP items, the overall position of Kuwait’s BOP realized a deficit of KD 886 million during 2015 against a surplus of KD 363 million during the previous year.

When the overall position of the BOP of the State of Kuwait is considered from a broader perspective to encompass the change in the net value of external assets of some government institutions listed under the “General Government” item, along with the change in total reserve assets of the CBK, the overall position of the Balance of Payments in a broad definition shows a surplus of KD 1619 million during 2015 against KD 16429 million during the previous year.

Summary of the Balance of Payments of the State of Kuwait

(KD Million)

* Represents the net lending (surplus) or net borrowing (deficit) by the concerned economy with the rest of the world, in order to   determine whether the country   is a   lender or a borrower.

• Provisional Balance of Payments of the State of Kuwait for the Year 2015