Fitch affirms Kuwait's sovereign credit rating at AA

The Central Bank of Kuwait announced that Fitch Ratings reaffirmed on Friday its long-term sovereign credit rating for the State of Kuwait at “AA” with a stable outlook. In a statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the bank said that the key findings of Fitch’s report indicate that Kuwait’s credit rating reflects the country’s exceptional strength in its financial and external positions.

The statement clarified that, regarding economic growth and inflation, Fitch expects current regional geopolitical instability to impact local economic growth rates amid fluctuations in oil production. Fitch projected that non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) would experience positive, albeit slower, growth, supported by government spending on infrastructure development projects. It also forecast a slight rise in the inflation rate during 2026, before declining in 2027.

On public debt, the agency anticipated that the ratio of public debt to GDP would increase over the next three fiscal years (through the end of the 2028/2029 fiscal year), adding that “debt levels will remain below the median for countries with an ‘AA’ sovereign rating, which stands at approximately 51.5% of projected GDP in 2028.”

Fitch highlighted external assets, confirming that Kuwait enjoys an exceptionally strong external financial position. It projected that net foreign sovereign assets as a percentage of GDP would rise in 2026, exceeding ten times the average for countries with an “AA” credit rating.

The Central Bank of Kuwait’s statement noted that Fitch views the potential repercussions of ongoing geopolitical instability as manageable, given Kuwait’s substantial financial buffers.