Kuwait’s cash reserve increased to 12.78 billion dinars by the end of last July from 12.74 billion dinars in June, an increase of 41 million dinars during the month and an increase on a monthly basis of 0.32%, according to Al-Anba daily. It should be noted that the cash reserve reached its highest historical level in October of last year when it reached 13.88 billion dinars.
The entire cash balances, accounts, bonds, certificates of deposit, treasury bills, and foreign currency deposits with the Central Bank of Kuwait comprise the country’s foreign exchange reserves. By calculating the liquid reserves, we find that they are 4 times larger than the global average and can satisfy Kuwait’s import requirements for more than 13 months. The safe limit for liquid foreign exchange reserves, excluding gold, is 3 months of average import value.
Kuwait’s gold reserves, which the World Gold Reserve Council estimates to be around 79 tonnes, have remained constant as in all previous years. That vast amount of gold is worth 31.7 million dinars in Kuwait based on the pricing at the time of acquisition rather than the current market price.
According to the Central Bank of Kuwait’s monthly bulletin, the bank’s total assets stood at 13.03 billion dinars. These assets were split between liquid foreign reserves, which account for the majority of that amount (12.78 billion dinars), gold reserves worth 31.74 million dinars, and other reserves worth 186.89 million dinars. The strength of the external financial position and the capacity to withstand pressure on the local currency is measured by foreign assets.
A total of 2.052 billion dinars were spent on securities and coins in July, which is a drop of 101 million dinars (or 4.7%) from previous June’s total of 2.153 billion dinars. During the month of July, the amount of 20-dinar banknotes decreased from 1.211 billion dinars in June to 1.172 billion dinars.
In addition, the value of the 10 dinar category dropped by 45.48 million dinars, ending the month of July at 648.56 million dinars as opposed to 694.04 million dinars in June of the previous year. The category of 5 dinars had a loss of 11.9 million dinars as well, falling to 113.02 million dinars at the end of July from 124.92 million dinars in June.
The one-dinar category also saw a decrease of 4.05 million dinars, falling from 65.86 million dinars in June to 61.81 million dinars at the end of last July. The half-dinar category saw a loss of 500 thousand dinars as well, falling from 14.25 million dinars in June to 13.75 million dinars by the end of last July.