Moody's: Kuwait supported

Moody's Investors Service said that Kuwait's Aa2 foreign and local currency government bond ratings, with a stable outlook, are supported by the country's elevated GDP per capita, its substantial hydrocarbons endowment with the world's fourth largest proven oil reserves, its very wide fiscal and external current account surpluses and a substantial and growing net foreign asset position.

"The ratings were last upgraded in July 2007, from Aa3, chiefly to reflect the growing strength of the government's balance sheet as oil-driven fiscal surpluses are channeled through the state-owned Kuwait Investment Authority to accumulate financial assets abroad," explained Tristan Cooper, a Moody's vice-president / senior analyst and author of the report.

"Mostly invested in non-hydrocarbon sectors, these assets provide an 'oil hedge' and their returns increasingly contribute to the country's gross national income."

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