“It has been a great pleasure to return to Kuwait where I had the privilege of meeting His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Crown Prince
Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as well as Speaker of
Parliament Ali Al-Ghanim, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah; Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Finance, Anas Al-Saleh; and Central Bank of Kuwait Governor,
Mohammad Al-Hashel. We exchanged views on recent economic developments
in Kuwait, the GCC region, and the world.
“We
also discussed the welcome economic reforms that were initiated by the
government and are supported by His Highness, the amir. Kuwait needs to
build on the momentum of these reforms to ensure that the fiscal
situation remains solid, while continuing its efforts to diversify the
economy.
“I also
spoke at the Global Islamic Finance Conference that is co-organized by
the IMF, the Central Bank of Kuwait, and the Middle East Center for
Economics and Finance (CEF). My main message there was
that Islamic finance has the potential to contribute to higher and more
inclusive economic growth by increasing access to banking services.
Islamic finance has also shown its value in infrastructure investment
and promoting financial stability.
“Despite
these important benefits, there is still...
a long way to go. Unlocking
the potential of Islamic finance requires cooperation among all
stakeholders, including the Islamic financial institutions,
policymakers, regulators, and international institutions, such as the
IMF. The IMF’s engagement has been longstanding. Over the last several
decades, the Fund has provided policy advice and technical assistance to
its member countries in Islamic banking regulation, the development of
Sukuk markets, and monetary policy implementation.
“We
have worked closely with key Islamic finance standard setters and other
important stakeholders in the establishment of the Islamic Financial
Services Board. Islamic finance industry has grown in recent years not
just in the Middle East, but also in Asia and Africa, and the
considerable interest in Sukuk issuance has risen in other financial
centers such as the U.K., Luxembourg and Hong Kong. This growth has put
an even greater premium on the Fund's ability to provide consistent
policy advice to our members in the context of our regular surveillance,
our financial stability assessments and our technical assistance.
“Going
forward, we will be working toward taking an institutional view on
better integrating Islamic finance into our surveillance work. This will
help our membership better appreciate the developments in this fast
growing area while providing comfort that any risks to financial
stability are being monitored.”
