KUWAIT: The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) announced on Sunday an increase in Kuwait's money supply (M2) by about 0.2 percent in February on a monthly basis to reach KD 1.39 billion (about $129 billion).

The economic research department of the bank said in statistical tables released to KUNA that private sector deposits with local banks in dinars rose 0.3 percent last February to reach KD 35.6 billion (about $117 billion).

It added that the private sector deposits in foreign currencies decreased by 2.5 percent to reach KD 1.8 billion (about $5.9 billion), while the total balances of local banks' demand on the Central Bank in dinars, represented by (CBK) bonds, amounted to KD 3.3 billion (about $10.8 billion).

The statistics showed that the total assets of local banks increased by 0.1 percent, to record KD 86 billion (about $280.5 billion), while the net foreign assets of local banks decreased by 5.1 percent, to KD 10.5 billion (about $34.6 billion).

It stated that time deposits with the CBK jumped last February by about 20 percent to reach KD 1.5 billion (about $4.9 billion), while the balances of cash credit facilities (loans) increased by 0.4 percent to 52.6 billion dinars (about $173.5 billion). Also, it showed that the average interest rates on treasury bonds with a maturity of one year remained last February at 4.5 percent, while the financing of Kuwaiti imports fell 22.2 percent to KD 686 million (about $2.2 billion) while the average exchange rate of the US dollar against the dinar rose in February by 0.1 percent to 305.7 fils.

The money supply is the sum total of all of the currency and other liquid assets in a country's economy on the date measured. The money supply includes all cash in circulation and all bank deposits that the account holder can easily convert to cash. - KUNA