The Central Bank of Kuwait left its key discount rate steady at 3 percent on December 19th 2018, despite the Fed's decision to hike the funds rate by 25 bps. It was the third straight time policymakers do not follow the Fed, saying the decision aims to maintain the attractiveness and competitiveness of the national currency as a store for domestic savings and preserve a non-inflationary growth of the non-oil sectors. Kuwait does not have its currency pegged to the dollar. The country links its dinar to a basket of currencies Interest Rate in Kuwait averaged 3.72 percent from 1999 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 7.25 percent in April of 2000 and a record low of 2 percent in October of 2012.
Interest Rate in Kuwait is expected to be 3.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Interest Rate in Kuwait to stand at 3.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Kuwait Interest Rate is projected to trend around 3.25 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.