Kuwait’s booming economy is heavily oil dependent, but banks are beginning to look outside the country to strengthen operations and diversify their offer, Stephen Timewell reports from Kuwait.

Targeted intervention, such as that imposed on borrowing limits by Kuwait, could work in other problem areas of banking.

Competition remains controlled but foreign players are finally getting their feet in the door, adding healthy variety to Kuwait’s banking sector, writes Nadine Marroushi.

One of the richest Gulf states, parts of Kuwait’s economy are booming, but politics and bureaucracy still hold back growth, write Nadine Marroushi and Jon Marks.

Central bank governor Sheikh Salem remains positive about Kuwait’s prospects of becoming a financial centre… eventually. Karina Robinson talks to him.

Huge oil revenues place Kuwait in an economic comfort zone that helps to diminish political tensions, while Kuwaiti banks are looking across the region for opportunities, writes Eleanor Gillespie, with Jon Marks.

National Bank of Kuwait
Ibrahim S. Dabdoub, CEO

Sheikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al-Sabah Governor, Central Bank of Kuwait

Foreign banks are arriving in Kuwait at last, just as the Bank of Kuwait and Middle East takeover signals the domestic market’s renewed attraction, writes Paul Melly.
On October 2, HSBC Middle East became the second foreign bank to open its doors in Kuwait under the pilot liberalisation programme developed by the authorities in the past year.