Gulf Times – Kuwait’s corporate bond market sees boom times

In a region dominated by sovereign and government-related bond issues, Kuwait has bucked the trend over recent months with a series of successful corporate sales that hint at greater capital-raising potential in the Gulf state.
The global financial crisis hit Kuwaiti investment companies hard, pushing some into debt restructuring talks and making banks cautious about lending. Meanwhile, the eurozone debt crisis is causing European banks to pull in their horns.
Bank lending to the private sector grew just 3.2% from a year earlier in February, which was slow considering private analysts expect Kuwait’s gross domestic product, buoyed by high oil prices, will expand about 3.8% this year in inflation-adjusted terms. So Kuwaiti corporations may have little choice but to diversify their funding into bonds.

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