KUWAIT CITY, Nov 3: Ministry of Finance has issued an economic report for the month of September 2020, in which it reviewed the local economic developments especially the world economic outlook and the report on Kuwait issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reports Al-Anba daily.

The IMF reports revealed that the economy of Kuwait will record the second largest expected rate of contraction in the Gulf region by -8.1 percent in the year 2020, followed by the Sultanate of Oman, which will record the largest rate in the Gulf by -10 percent this year, in light of the negative economic repercussions of the COVID- 19 pandemic.

The report explained that the economy of Kuwait will achieve positive growth of 0.6 percent during the year 2021. This rate will be the lowest in the Gulf among countries expected to record positive growth during the next year.

In the forefront will be Saudi Arabia by 3.1 percent, followed by Qatar with 2.5 percent, Bahrain with 2.3 percent, and then the UAE with 1.3 percent. On the other hand, Oman is expected to record a negative growth of -0.5 percent next year.

The monthly report of the Ministry of Finance on the performance of the Kuwait Stock Exchange in September explained that the market was distinguished by good performance for the second month in a row in September.

This good performance is due to the purchase of leading shares, especially the expected joining of the MSCI emerging market index upon the market upgrade in next November, so that the market achieves capital gains in this climate, amounting to KD 990 million last month.