KUWAIT: Kuwait recorded a current account surplus of KD 108 million ($357 million) in the second quarter of 2020, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) said on Wednesday. The surplus fell by KD 112 million ($369 million) from KD 220 million ($726 million) recorded in the earlier quarter, representing a 50 percent drop, according to a press release.

The drop is due to a dip of KD 2.2 billion ($7.2 billion) in the value of total earnings on the credit side of the current account, and a fall of KD 2.1 billion ($6.9 billion) in the value of total payments on the debit side, it added. The commodity balance surplus also dropped by KD 318.6 million ($1 billion) to KD 1.6 billion ($5.2 billion) compared to KD 2 billion ($6.6 billion) in the first quarter. The balance of services dropped 78.5 percent by KD 1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) to KD 354.9 million ($1.1 million).

Meanwhile, remittances by expats to their home countries dropped by 21.96 percent during the second quarter of the current year compared to the first quarter to 1.056 billion from KD 1.35 billion, while it increased during the first half of 2020 by nearly 12.13 percent compared to the same period last year from KD 2.15 billion to 2.41 billion.

Preliminary data of the balance of payments for the second quarter published by the Central Bank of Kuwait showed precautionary measures to face the coronavirus caused a drop in Kuwaitis spending on travel by nearly 93.14 percent during the second quarter, as spending reached KD 81.7 million compared to KD 1.19 billion during the first three months of 2020. Total travel spending during the first half of 2020 was nearly KD 1.27 billion, a drop of 56.35 percent from the same period last year.