Mubasher: Kuwait’s balance of trade is set to grow in 2017 on the back of higher oil prices, Al Shall Consulting has forecast in a new report.
Kuwait’s balance of trade, which entails exports excluding the value of imports, registered a surplus of KWD 1.611 billion ($5.34 billion) in the third quarter of 2017.
The total value of Kuwait’s exports amounted to KWD 4.089 billion ($13.56 billion) in Q3-17, official data showed, indicating that 89.5% of this figure were oil exports. Commodity imports, excluding military items, amounted to KWD 2.478 billion in Q3-17.
Kuwait’s balance of trade surplus logged a combined KWD 4.708 billion in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year.
The country’s balance of trade surplus would amount to “KWD 6.277 billion if calculated for the entire 2017 year. This surplus will be higher by 34.8% compared to what was achieved in 2016 at KWD 4.658 billion due to oil price improvement,” Al Shall forecast.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s consumer price index (CPI) or inflation grew 0.3% in Q3-17, averaging at 112.4 from 112.1 in Q2-17.
“This growth is attributable to the dominance of the impact of rising prices of recreation and culture from an average of 99.7 to an average 101.8 (+2.1%), and due to the impact of rising prices of miscellaneous commodities and services from an average of 103.4 to an average of 104.9 (+1.5%) for the same period,” the research firm commented.
It is worth noting that the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) recently announced that Kuwait’s population has increased by 1.2% or 90,000 people year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017 to 4.463 million.
