Kuwait to launch $275m bond scheme on April 8

Kuwait's central bank said it would issue KD80m ($275.1m) worth of one-year treasury bonds on April 8 carrying a coupon of 2.25 percent, the fifth issue this year amid strong demand.

Central bank data showed on Monday that the bond issue, which matures April 7, 2010, received KD674.5m of bids.

The last issue was on March 25 for a KD92m worth of treasury bonds with the same coupon, which received bids worth eight times its amount as banks look to ways to soak up excess cash.

Last month, Governor Sheikh Salem Abdul Aziz Al Sabah said there is excess liquidity in the Gulf Arab state that the central bank was "mopping up".

Kuwaiti banks have become prudent after the state was forced to step in and rescue one of the country's biggest banks, Gulf Bank, last year, and as they await the implementation of a $5bn stimulus package.

Last week, Kuwait's cabinet approved a bylaw to implement the state's $5bn stimulus package, which will come into effect once it is published in the official gazette. (Reuters)

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