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The private sector held the largest share of deposits in local banks, totaling 37.62 billion dinars until February 2024
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The statistics revealed an increase in the value of the State of Kuwait’s official reserve assets, totaling about 14.8 billion dinars in February 2024
According to recent statistics from the Central Bank of Kuwait, total deposits in local banks grew by approximately 3.6% annually, reaching around 49.07 billion dinars by the end of February. This marks an increase from the 47.32 billion dinars recorded in February 2023, reflecting a rise of 1.74 billion dinars.
The private sector held the largest share of deposits in local banks, totaling 37.62 billion dinars until February 2024. This represents an increase from the deposits recorded during the same month last year, which were approximately 37.512 billion dinars, reflecting a growth of 114 million dinars.
Private sector deposits were distributed among demand deposits totaling 8.9 billion dinars, which is a decrease from the demand deposits recorded in February 2023, amounting to about 10 billion dinars.
Meanwhile, savings deposits during February 2024 amounted to about 5.76 billion dinars, reflecting a decrease of 14.4% from the savings deposits recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year, which was about 6.73 billion dinars, indicating a decrease of one billion dinars.
The Central Bank of Kuwait’s increase in interest rates on dinar deposits resulted in a decrease in foreign currency deposits in local banks, reaching about 1.77 billion dinars by the end of last February. This compares to 1.80 billion dinars recorded in foreign currency deposits during the corresponding period last year.
Government, public institution deposits surge
The deposits of the government and public institutions in local banks saw a significant increase over 12 months, rising by 16.6% to reach 11.44 billion dinars by the end of last February. This compares to 9.81 billion dinars during the corresponding period of the previous year (February 2023).
Financial sources attributed the rise in government deposits in banks to the substantial increase in oil prices over the past year, averaging $84.4 per barrel.
This increase allowed government agencies to build up cash reserves and ceased the process of monetizing deposits that some parties had pursued in the last period to address liquidity issues.
Increase in reserve assets
The statistics revealed an increase in the value of the State of Kuwait’s official reserve assets, totaling about 14.8 billion dinars in February 2024. This marks a 3.8% increase over the reserves recorded in January, which were approximately 14.2 billion dinars, reflecting a net growth of 600 million dinars.
It’s worth noting that these reserves do not include the external assets of the General Investment Authority; rather, they consist of external assets under the control of monetary authorities.
These assets are used to meet financing needs in balance of payments, intervene in exchange markets to influence currency exchange rates, or serve other purposes.
