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Kuwait had been unable to issue sovereign bonds legally since its earlier public-debt framework expired circa 2017. Every subsequent budget deficit was financed by drawdowns from the General Reserve Fund (GRF) rather than through new market borrowing, eroding the GRF and preventing Kuwait from building a sovereign yield curve. Decree-Law No. 60 of 2025 fills that gap by:
1. Setting the aggregate public-debt ceiling at KD 30 billion (~USD 98 billion, equivalent to roughly 60% of current-year GDP). This is large enough to accommodate multi-year infrastructure capex without requiring frequent legislative revision.
2. Authorising maturities of up to 50 years for both conventional sovereign bonds and sharia-compliant sukuk, denominated in KWD or in any major convertible foreign currency. Ultra-long tenors allow Kuwait to match the duration of multi-decade infrastructure assets (port expansions, housing estates, metro extensions).
3. Creating the legal architecture for a Kuwaiti sovereign yield curve. The Ministry of Finance explicitly cited yield-curve development as an objective, providing benchmark reference rates for Kuwaiti banks and corporates that currently lack a government-curve anchor for pricing local bonds.
4. Operationalising the 2025-26 development budget. The National Assembly approved 124 construction projects in the 2025-26 fiscal cycle; without a debt-issuance mechanism, this pipeline had no viable funding pathway that preserved GRF assets.
Minister of Finance Nora Al-Fassam and Director of Public Debt Faisal Al-Muzaini provided official statements confirming the decree's purpose and structure.
unable to access debt markets. Its re-entry closes the last gap in the regional sovereign-yield-curve landscape, potentially increasing the depth and liquidity of GCC fixed-income markets overall.
restored, the government can stop liquidating GRF assets to fund deficits. This is structurally positive for KIA's long-term asset base and its role as a globally significant sovereign wealth fund.
for pricing loans and local bonds. This may increase financial-market depth and support local credit formation.
Port, Kuwait Metro, and New Kuwait City development depend on multi-decade sovereign financing that this law makes possible.
finance investors in the region and globally, diversifying the investor base beyond conventional bond buyers.
approval per issuance, or a block-authorisation approach)?
guarantees issued to SOEs (KIPIC, NBK, etc.)?