Kuwait’s finance sector was hit hard by the global financial crisis. The heavy losses it suffered forced the country's government to guarantee local bank deposits in late 2008 and implement a financial stability programme to try and restore confidence in the sector. But these efforts have had a limited impact.
What has followed has been a torrid few years, which have seen Kuwait become synonymous with some high-profile debt restructurings in the investment sector. Several of the country’s investment companies defaulted amid the credit crisis after the value of their assets plunged and frozen debt markets prevented them from raising new loans. Global Investment House underwent a debt restructuring of $1.73bn in 2009, while Investment Dar was forced to alter the terms on $5bn-worth of loans after defaulting in 2009. In total, the investment sector lost more than $2bn in 2009, following a loss of upwards of $3bn in 2008.
