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

(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)