Kuwait’s central bank kept the dinar reference rate against the dollar unchanged on Wednesday for a third trading day, after the dollar fell against the yen and rose slightly against the euro.
The dinar will trade around a mid point of 0.28180 per dollar, the central bank said.
The currency of the Middle East’s fourth-largest oil exporter has risen 2.60% since May 19, a day before the
central bank dropped its peg to the weakening dollar and adopted a basket of currencies. Kuwait has declined to give the composition of the basket.
The yen gained broadly on Tuesday as jitters about global credit conditions led investors to shed risky assets funded by borrowing in the Japanese currency.
In late New York trade, the dollar was down 0.4% at 114.40 yen. The euro fell 0.1% to $1.3463, although it has still gained more than 2% against the US currency this year.
The central bank says the dollar’s decline on global markets is driving up inflation and making some imports more expensive.
The U.S. currency hit a record low last month against the euro in which Kuwait pays for more than a third of its imports.
Central Bank Governor Sheikh Salem Abdul-Aziz Al-Sabah said on July 29 the basket gave the bank flexibility to track moves on global foreign exchange markets, state news agency KUNA reported.
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