Local Kuwaiti banks last year recorded the highest rate of asset and deposit expansion during the past decade, with assets increasing from KD 19.19 billion in 2004 to KD 21.6 billion, said a report of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK).
The KD 2.5 billion increase attests to Kuwait's impressive ability to adapt to current developments witnessed by the state's economy.
Local banks, according to <i>KUNA</i>, deposits also grew to some KD 13.5 billion last year compared to KD 11.9 billion during 2004, reflecting a 13.4 percent increase.
In 2000, Kuwaiti bank assets did not exceed KD 13.8 billion, marking a 56.5 percent increase during the past five years.
The increase in assets is attributed to high demands on the private sector, reaching some KD 12.9 billion, as well as high demands on foreign assets of local banks, reaching 3.8 billion.
This, despite relatively low demands on Kuwait's public sector of KD 2.5 billion, along with deposits among the banks reaching KD one billion.
The deposits of the private sector increased from KD 11.12 billion to KD 12.5 billion while the deposits of the government sector increased to KD 995.8 million from KD 842 million.
Last year, deposits in local banks reached some KD 10.9 billion, or 80.7 percent of total deposits.
