Kuwait Third In Terms Of Foreign Exchange Reserves In Gulf

During the first three months of 2018, the total foreign exchange reserves of Gulf countries rose 4.5 percent compared to the end of the fourth quarter of last year. The data issued by the central banks of the GCC countries shows Saudi foreign exchange reserve accounted for 52.2 per cent of the total foreign exchange of the Gulf countries by the end of the first quarter of this year, reaching $161.48 billion of the total foreign exchange of $308.9 billion.

The improvement in foreign exchange follows the increase in oil prices during the last period, mainly as oil prices for the OPEC basket rose by 2.8 per cent during the first three months of this year. The average price of the OPEC basket was about $63.9, compared with 62.1 at the end of December 2017, while prices for the OPEC basket at the end of the first quarter of last year, about $51.

The UAE came second in terms of foreign exchange reserves, which amounted to about $73.8 billion, or 23.9 per cent of the total cash in the Gulf countries, while Kuwait came third, about $32.8 billion, or 10.6 per cent of the total.

The foreign reserves of Qatar were about $32.3 billion, while the foreign exchange reserves of Oman was about $6.99 billion, and about $1.41 billion for Bahrain. The growth in foreign exchange follows growth in the UAE by 5.7 per cent, Kuwait by 5.1 per cent, and by 3.5 per cent for Saudi Arabia, while foreign exchange grew slightly for Qatar by 0.8 per cent. Foreign exchange represents both foreign currency cash balances as well as deposits abroad, while gold reserves or overseas investments are not included.

 

SOURCE : ARABTIMES

Comments Post Comment

Leave a Comment

Submit