Despite its small size, Kuwait has long been a key player within the global Islamic finance industry, and with its sharia-compliant institutions posting strong figures in 2014, this position only looks likely to strengthen.

Kuwait’s banks are slowly recovering from the global financial crisis and bankers are optimistic for 2015. However, issues remain, including high exposure to the real estate market, outstanding debt settlements and a funding shortfall for the country’s SMEs. 

The dual blow of declining oil prices and increasing instability in neighbouring Iraq hit the Kuwait Stock Exchange hard in 2014. But hopes are high that it will rally in 2015, after a modest rise in the weighted index in January. 

In a career that has spanned more than 50 years, Ibrahim Dabdoub has transformed the National Bank of Kuwait from a small local player into a global force. Now that he has chosen to step down from his position as chief executive, The Banker reflects on the legacy that he will leave behind.

Islamic banking already has a strong presence in Kuwait. With a number of innovative lenders competing in the sector, and support and regulatory oversight from the country's central bank, it looks as though the industry can only become a more prominent fixture on the country's financial landscape.

Kuwait may lay claim to more than 5% of the world's total oil reserves, but without the expertise and equipment needed to tap into the bulk of this, and with strict rules prohibiting foreign help, the country is struggling to realise its energy potential.

With performance starting to pick up again in the Kuwaiti banking sector, and strong growth potential both in the domestic market and in neighbouring Iraq, the small country is finding itself the focus of a growing number of lenders, with competition among them growing fierce.

Steadily rising oil prices, a stable economy and the implementation of the National Development Plan are causing ripples of optimism in Kuwait, as the country looks to build on the slow progress it has been making in recent years.

With the country's well-capitalised banking sector set to transition smoothly to Basel III standards and a positive macroeconomic outlook, central bank governor Mohammad Al-Hashel is able to concentrate on Kuwait's longer term prospects. He tells The Banker how he expects more growth in the Islamic banking sector and an increase in government spending, both of which will prove beneficial to the country's economy.