#Kuwait Credit Bank weighs issue of 1 bln dinars of bonds amid liquidity crunch | Reuters

Kuwait Credit Bank weighs issue of 1 bln dinars of bonds amid liquidity crunch | Reuters

Kuwait Credit Bank, a state-owned lender that provides interest-free home loans, is in talks with banks and Oliver Wyman about issuing a possible 1 billion dinars ($3.30 billion) of bonds, its director general said.

No decision has been made and KCB is also considering issuing sukuk or taking bank loans to fund a longstanding lack of liquidity amid ballooning demand for its interest-free 70,000-dinar home loans, Salah al-Mudhaf told Reuters.

He said KCB needs 16 billion dinars to finance home loans through 2035. Kuwait's parliament last week approved a measure to provide KCB with 300 million dinars from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to boost its capital and to reschedule 500 million dinars in bonds owed to KFAD.

Kuwait's government guarantees housing for its citizens, who number roughly 1.47 million and make up about a third of the population, providing free land and the KCB financing.