In a seismic development, Kuwait has finally passed a new debt law following years of wrangling. The new law enables it to tap international markets for the first time in eight years. The debt law had become a totemic issue for Kuwait in recent years, symbolizing the impasse between the country’s government and successive parliaments which successfully obstructed its passage.
After being approved by government earlier in the month, the new law was finally issued on 26 March, setting a new debt ceiling of KD30bn ($97bn), with bond maturities of up to 50 years permitted and both Islamic and conventional finance envisaged. Its passage was only possible because the Emir suspended parliament for up to four years in May 2024, otherwise MPs would doubtless have continued to block its passage (MEES, 17 May 2024). (CONTINUED - 999 WORDS)
