Kuwait central bank raises discount rate by 25 bps to 3% – statement

Kuwait central bank raises discount rate by 25 bps to 3% – statement
FILE PHOTO: The Kuwait Central Bank towers are pictured over the traditional Dhow harbor as business deals and institutional lending for Gulf have frozen, following an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kuwait City

(Reuters) – The Central Bank of Kuwait said on Wednesday it will increase its discount rate by 25 basis points to 3% as of Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s three quarters of a percentage point rate hike.

The Kuwaiti dinar is pegged against a basket of currencies that includes the dollar, which gives it more flexibility to stray from Fed policy than other Gulf Arab countries, which have their currencies tied to the dollar.

(Reporting by Alaa Swilam and Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo; Writing by Yousef Saba)

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