Kuwait – Mubasher: Kuwait’s real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.5% in 2016, compared to 1.8% in 2015, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) said Sunday.
The rise was backed by the increased growth in real GDP for the oil sector by 1.9% and the non-oil sector by 3.2%, the CBK said in its report.
Indicators show that annual inflation reached 3.2% in 2016 versus 3.3% in 2015, CBK governor Mohammed Yousef Al Hashel said.
The exchange rate for the Kuwaiti dinar has contributed to the local currency’s stability against the main basket of foreign currencies in 2016, the CBK governor noted.
Ratings agency Capital Intelligence had previously forecast a rise in Kuwait GDP by 3.7% in 2018, while average growth was expected to exceed 3% for both 2019 and 2020.
In the event of an oil price rise to $55 per barrel, the Kuwaiti government was likely to see a surplus of around 2.4% of GDP in 2018 and around 0.6% in 2019, the ratings agency said.
