Mubasher: The total value of Kuwait's foreign reserves rose by 8.57% year-on-year (YoY) to KWD 12.42 billion ($39.96 billion) in February 2020, according to the monthly statistics by the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK).

In February 2019, the foreign reserve in Kuwait recorded KWD 11.44 billion ($36.81 billion).

On a monthly basis, Kuwait saw a 1.22% increase in the foreign reserve in February, compared to KWD 12.27 billion in January 2020.

The annual growth of the foreign reserve is supported by a 9.07% jump in the total currency and deposits to KWD 11.66 billion in February 2020, versus around KWD 10.69 billion during the same month of 2019.

The Kuwaiti reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hiked by 21.13% to KWD 165.7 million in February 2020 from KWD 136.8 million in the year-ago period, while it remained unchanged on a monthly basis.

At the same time, the special drawing rights (SDR) declined by 2.87 % to KWD 564.2 million during the second month of the year, compared to KWD 580.9 million in February 2019.

Meanwhile, the book value of Kuwait’s gold reserve amounted to KWD 31.7 million.

Noteworthy to highlight, Kuwait's reserve assets do not include the foreign assets of the General Investment Authority.