Kuwait safe from global crisis: Finance Minister

Kuwait's economy is not exposed to the global credit crisis and the Gulf Arab state's sovereign wealth fund would continue to support the bourse after a recent slide, the finance minister said in remarks published on Sunday.

Mustapha Al Shamali told Al Anba newspaper that the Arab world's second-largest bourse would recover after the government took measures to bolster flagging shares, adding that it was time to buy into the market again.

"Kuwait is economically safe and the Kuwait bourse is one of world's best exchanges," Shamali said, adding that the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) would be one of the main supporters of the market. With parliament demanding action after a bourse slide in the wake of a global credit crunch, the government decided last week on a package of measures, among them bigger investments by KIA.

The government will brief parliament's financial committee on Sunday on the measures to stop the market decline.

Daily Al Qabas said in an unsourced report that KIA had given the green light to invest an extra KWD1 billion dinars (Dh13.7bn) in the stock market after having spent ZWD280 million in a first step.

Several newspapers reported other government institutions, such as a social wealth fund, might invest on the local bourse as well.

Separately, Al Watan said in an unsourced report that the central bank has temporarily allowed borrowers to increase monthly interest and repayment installments to as much as 60 per cent of their salaries.

The central bank had limited such payments to 40 per cent in March in a bid to curb credit growth as part of efforts to tackle inflation.

In a bid to boost liquidity, the central bank last week cut the discount and repurchase rate.

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