Spending level in Kuwait witnessed a decline of KD 4 billion
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Increase in consumer, installment loans in 2020 compared to 2019
KUWAIT CITY, March 13: Consumer and installment loans increased by KD 914 million, reaching KD 14.318 billion by the end of December 2020, with consumer loans reaching KD 1.607 billion and installment loans KD 12.711 billion. In the end of 2019, the total consumer and installment loans were KD 13.404 billion, with consumer loans being KD 1.44 billion and installment loans KD 11.959 billion, reports Al-Nahar daily. Such a situation is happening despite calls for dropping interest on loans, or rescheduling the principal for many years.
In the same context, the spending level in Kuwait has witnessed a decline of KD 4 billion. Consumer card transactions recorded KD 19.27 billion in 2020, compared to KD 23.27 billion in 2019 due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the monthly statistics issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait, POS transactions and ATM transactions both at home and abroad recorded those values during 2020.
However, the lowest total of recorded transaction values in the last three years was KD 3.25 billion during the period from April to June. The official reserve assets of Kuwait achieved an annual increase of KD 2.65 billion at the end of December 2020, with the value of official reserve assets amounting to KD 14.65 billion, compared to KD 12 billion at the end of 2019. The increase in the value of the reserves comes with Kuwait resorting to the assets of the sovereign fund during the current year to consolidate its position and reserves, and to compensate for the decline in the state’s oil revenues as a result of the decline in oil demand and oil prices due to the COVID- 19 outbreak, and fears of economic recession.
However, this contributed to the annual growth of Kuwait’s foreign reserves, and increase in total currency and deposits by 22.04 percent to reach KD 13.84 billion, compared to KD 11.34 billion in December 2019 with a monthly growth of 1.09 percent. The Central Bank of Kuwait’s statistics showed that the assets of local banks achieved an increase of KD 2.3 billion, amounting to KD 73.33 billion, compared to 71 billion at the end of December 2019. The indebtedness of investment companies decreased by KD 200 million, reaching KD 2.58 billion by the end of 2020, compared to KD 2.7 billion at the end of 2019. The volume of liquidity increased recorded an annual increase of 3.78 percent at the end of December to reach KD 39.57 billion, compared to KD 38.13 billion in the same month of 2019.
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