Kuwait will allow a limited number of international banks and five Gulf Arab banks to open branches under a plan to open up its banking sector, the Central Bank of Kuwait governor said in press remarks on Sunday. CBK Governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah told local daily al-Watan in an interview that "at this stage the approvals will be to a limited number of international banks known for efficiency in addition to a single branch each for the national banks of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations."
The GCC is a loose political and economic alliance grouping Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates - which collectively control more than half of global oil reserves.
Sheikh Salem said licensing foreign banks in reflected the government's "conviction to liberalise financial services and vary the structure of the banking and financial system in Kuwait to develop it as a financial hub and boost its financial and commercial ties with the outside world". The competition expected from allowing non-Kuwaiti banks to operate in the country will ultimately improve banking services and products in Kuwait, Sheikh Salem added.
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