KUWAIT CITY, 26 April 2004 — Kuwait’s Central Bank (CBK) yesterday announced the withdrawal of state guarantees for private sector deposits at local banks some two decades after imposing them to shore up the emirate’s banking system. A statement by CBK Governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, cited by the official KUNA news agency, said the decision will be effective as of today. Private sector deposits at the end of March reached 10.67 billion dinars ($35.6 billion), up 7.9 percent on the 2003-end level, and as much as 14.8 percent from the end of 2002, according to official figures.