Kuwait-Mubasher: The international research company Capital Economics said that Kuwait is has the best Gulf economy to cope with low oil prices.

The data recent released by Capital Economics showed that the country continued to run a budget surplus for the first six months of 2015, though a much smaller one than in recent years.

“The current account is also likely to still be in surplus, so Kuwait’s net external asset position has probably improved further,” it added.

Kuwait’s economic growth remains sluggish, yet it has a strong balance sheet.

Meanwhile, weak private sector credit growth indicated that activity in the non-oil sector is “subdued”.

“Bank card transactions, a proxy for consumer spending, are slowing. More fundamentally, the economy suffers from a lack of investment. This is a result of the poor business environment and the fact that government spending is skewed toward wages and subsidies, rather than capital expenditure,” said the research company.

The country’s inflation eased to 3.1% y/y in September from 3.8% y/y in August, driven largely by falls in food and housing inflation.