KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait can overcome the global economic crisis by the end of 2009 if the Kuwaiti government helps to boost the economy with financial incentives.
“The Kuwaiti economy will return to its norm by the end of the year, provided that the government interferes positively to stimulate the economy,” said Ibrahim Dabdoub, chief executive officer of the National Bank of Kuwait Group, during an interview on CNBC Arabiya’s “Fil Omoq” program.
Dabdoub urged the Kuwaiti government to announce a financial incentives package linked to public spending on large-scale service and construction projects such as schools, hospitals and the City of Silk, which various companies can invest in and contribute to.
Dabdoub added that his bank’s expansion initiatives may be halted in the current economic climate but did not rule out that the bank will pursue other development goals.
“The National Bank of Kuwait’s current policy is to prudently prepare for difficult times,” Dabdoub said, pointing out that 50 million Kuwaiti dinars of the bank’s 2008 profits were recently transferred and allocated for this purpose.
Dabdoub said that he is cautiously optimistic about a solution to the global economic crisis since US President Barack Obama assembled an efficient, well-known economic team to help deal with world financial issues. At the same time, Dabdoud warned that a credit crisis could result if governments do not apply a funding stimulus, urging positive cooperation between governments and financial institutions to surmount the current crisis.