$46.7 billion.. Kuwait's direct investment abroad jumps 56%

The direct investment of the State of Kuwait abroad jumped during 2022 by 55.63% on an annual basis, equivalent to 5.122 billion dinars ($16.683 billion).

The jump in investment was recorded last year during the fourth quarter, as it amounted to 10.200 billion dinars in the first quarter of the year, and reached 10.614 billion dinars in the second quarter, then 10.760 billion dinars in the third quarter, until the year 2022 ended at a level of 14.329 billion dinars.

Direct investment

It is noteworthy that direct investment abroad reached last year the highest level since 2015, the first year in which these results are available within the statistics, and it amounted to 9.578 billion dinars.

This rise coincides with the increase in the revenues of the State of Kuwait in the past year, coinciding with the rise in the price of a Kuwaiti oil barrel for the second year in a row, benefiting from the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Barrel of Kuwaiti oil

The price of a barrel of Kuwaiti oil increased during 2022 by 3.78%, or $2.99, to reach $82.04 at the end of last December, compared to $79.05 during the same period in 2021.

In addition to its foreign investments, the Gulf state seeks to enhance its internal work and investment environment by signing several memorandums of understanding between its government agencies to overcome obstacles.

Total external debt

In another side Official data revealed that the total external debt of the State of Kuwait decreased during the year 2022 by 9.78% on an annual basis, equivalent to 2.140 billion dinars ($6.973 billion).

Kuwait's foreign debt recorded at the end of last year 19.746 billion dinars ($64.341 billion), compared to 21.886 billion dinars ($71.314 billion) in 2021, according to the quarterly statistics issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait.

External debt

On a quarterly basis, the external debt of the State of Kuwait reached 18.168 billion dinars at the end of the first quarter of last year, and rose in the second quarter to 18.993 billion dinars.

It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Kuwait has not issued public debt bonds since September 27, 2017, due to the expiration of the debt law, and the parliamentarians’ failure to agree with the ministers on a new formula for the next law.

This comes despite the Gulf state's endeavor to amend the religion law to include the issuance of Islamic sukuk as a tool of public debt. to finance the budget deficit and development projects; This was approved by the Council of Ministers during 2019, but it has not yet been implemented.