Kuwait plans $349 mln new Islamic bank

Kuwait plans to set up an Islamic lender with a capital of 100 million dinars ($349 million), in which the country's sovereign wealth fund will have a 24 percent stake, the minister for cabinet affairs said late Monday, the official Kuna news agency reported.

Kuwaitis will own the remaining 76 percent in Warba Bank, Rawdan al-Rawdan said after a cabinet meeting Monday evening, Kuna reported.

Kuwait currently has three Islamic lenders, Kuwait Finance House, in which the country's sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority has a stake, Boubyan Bank and Kuwait International Bank.