Kuwait’s Surplus Jumps 78%

Kuwait’s current account surplus surged 78 per cent in 2011 mainly thanks to a jump in exports, its central bank said.

The current account of one of the world’s top oil exporters booked a surplus of KD19.53 billion ($70.3 billion) in 2011, or 54.8 per cent of 2010 gross domestic product, compared to 10.98 billion in 2010, or 30.8 per cent of GDP, it said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Kuwait’s current account surplus to reach 35.2 per cent of GDP in 2011 and 33.6 per cent of GDP this year.

“That increase…was mainly an outcome of the rise in the surplus of the balance of goods,” the central bank said, adding that it soared by 66.7 per cent on an annual basis.

It has not yet released 2011 GDP data for the country.

Growth in the net value of Kuwaiti residents’ assets abroad also accelerated during 2011, the central bank said.

Taking into account the net value of external assets of some government institutions and the central bank’s own reserves, the account showed an overall surplus of KD13.46 billion compared to a KD10.48 billion surplus in 2010.