Financial Risk Manager

Ways of Financial and Risk Management

KUWAIT - Economic Overview
Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Today is 48th National Day of the state of Kuwait. This day late Sheikh Abdullah Al salam Al sabah, the eleventh ruler of Kuwait, took over the reins of Kuwait. Some of the facts of the nation is as follow;

Independence Day: 19th June, 1961 (From UK)

Economic overview:
Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 104 billion barrels - 8% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $157.9 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 8.1% (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $60,800 (2008 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2.2% (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues: $113.3 billion expenditures: $63.55 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt: 7.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.7% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate: 6.25% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate: 8.54% (31 December 2007)
Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, water desalination, food processing, construction materials
Oil - production: 2.613 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption: 334,700 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports: 2.356 million bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports: 8,022 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves: 104 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production: 12.5 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 12.5 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.586 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance: $65.21 billion (2008 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $10.64 billion (31 December 2008 est.)