Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T08:22:28.425Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Citizenship, Super-inclusion and Consumer Credit Policy in Kuwait

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2014

DAWN BURTON*
Affiliation:
email: dawnburtonsurname@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

This paper focuses on policies of credit inclusion in Kuwait as a way of unravelling the complex relationship between citizenship, social policy, and credit. Kuwaiti citizens enjoy the status of super-inclusion but expatriates suffer from exclusion. Super-inclusion for Kuwaiti citizens reaches beyond access to credit and includes its distribution, methods of dealing with default and the repayment of debt. In the post-Arab Spring period, the gap has widened between these two groups within the population as citizens attempt to secure a greater share of the country's financial resources in exchange for social peace.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdal, L. (2013), ‘A 24×7 vigil is needed’, Kuwaiti Times, 9 June 2013, http://news.kuwaittimes.net/a-24×7-vigil-is-needed/.Google Scholar
Al-Fuzai, M. (2009), ‘The future of Kuwait’, Kuwaiti Times, 23 September, 6.Google Scholar
Appadurai, A. (1990), Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Beblawi, H. (1987), ‘The rentier state in the Arab world’, in Beblawi, H. and Luciani, G. (eds.), The Rentier State, London: Croom Helm, pp. 4962.Google Scholar
Blekesaune, M. (2012), ‘Economic strain and public support of redistribution: a comparative study of 28 European countries’, Journal of Social Policy, 42: 1, 5772.Google Scholar
Burton, D. (2007), Credit and Consumer Society, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Business Information Industry Association (2013), ‘Credit information network of Kuwait selects Dun and Bradstreet as solution provider for credit bureau turnkey project’, 24 April, http://www.biia.com/credit-information-network-of-kuwait-selects-dun-and-bradstreet-as-solution-provider-for-credit-bureau-turnkey-project (accessed 14 September 2013).Google Scholar
Central Bank of Kuwait (2013a), ‘Quarterly Statistics Table 17: Local Banks (1): Balances of Utilized Cash Credit Facilities in KD to Residents and Non-Residents, by Interest Rate’, http://www.cbk.gov.kw/cbkweb/servlet/cbkmain?Action=qtbl&archive=20130103&tbl=RQ17 (accessed 14 September 2013).Google Scholar
Central Bank of Kuwait (2013b) Financial Stability Report 2012, Financial Stability Office, Central Bank of Kuwait, Safat 13006, Kuwait.Google Scholar
Crystal, J. (1995), Oil and Politics in the Gulf, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Economist (2011), ‘Throwing money at the street’, The Economist, 10 March.Google Scholar
Embassy of the State of Kuwait (2010), Business Fundamentals, http://www.embassyofkuwait.ca/pages/Economy/BusinessInKuwait/BusinessFundamentals (accessed 12 April 2011).Google Scholar
Fattahova, N. (2012), ‘Proposal to grant KD10,000 to all Kuwaiti families – citizens express mixed reactions’, Kuwaiti Times, 27 May 2012.Google Scholar
Financial Services Authority (2000), In or Out? Financial Exclusion: A literature and Research Review, London: Financial Services Authority.Google Scholar
Foley, S. (2010), The Arab Gulf States: Beyond Oil and Islam, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Graeber, D. (2011), Debt the First 5,000 Years, New York: Melville House.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund (2013), ‘Kuwait’, IMF Country Report 13/336, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2013/cr13336.pdf (accessed 5 August 2014).Google Scholar
Iqbal, M. and Wilson, R. (eds.) (2005), Islamic Perspectives on Wealth Creation, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 1125.Google Scholar
Izzak, B. (2012), ‘Al-Shamali quits after 11 hour grilling session’, Kuwaiti Times, 24 May 2012.Google Scholar
Jawad, R. and Yakut-Cakar, B. (2010), ‘Religion and social policy in the Middle East: the (re)construction of an old–new partnership’, Social Policy Administration, 44: 6, 658–72.Google Scholar
Kamrava, M. (2010), ‘Preserving non-democracies: leaders and state institutions in the Middle East’, Middle Eastern Studies, 46: 2, 251–70.Google Scholar
Kempson, E. and Whyley, C. (1996), Kept Out or Opted Out? Understanding and Combating Financial Exclusion, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Kempson, E. and Collard, S. (2012), Developing a Vision for Financial Inclusion, London: Friends Provident Foundation.Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Government (2013a), ‘Purchase loans: real estate loan for purchasing houses and apartments with a maximum amount of KD70,000’, http://www.e.gov.kw/SCB_en/Pages/ServiceContent/3156BuyingHouseAtMax70000Loan.aspx (accessed 11 September 2013).Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Government (2013b), ‘Real estate loan for purchasing a house or building a joint parcel’, http://www.e.gov.kw/SCB_en/Pages/ServiceContent/3143BuyingHouseLoan.aspx (accessed 11 September 2013).Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Government (2013c), ‘Obtain a social loan (marriage loan)’ http://www.e.gov.kw/SCB_en/Pages/ServiceContent/3147MarriageLoan.aspx (accessed 11 September 2013).Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Times (2012), ‘86,000 face travel ban’, Kuwaiti Times, 8 September 2012.Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Times (2013a) ‘Gulf car sales highlight consumer boom’, Kuwaiti Times, 7 November 2013, http://news.kuwaittimes.net/gulf-car-sales-highlight-consumer-boom/.Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Times (2013b), ‘Family fund fails to attract debtors’, Kuwaiti Times, 22 October 2013, http://news.kuwaittimes.net/family-fund-fails-attract-debtors/.Google Scholar
Kuwaiti Times (2013c), ‘Banks seek approval for travel loans’, Kuwaiti Times, 29 December 2013, http://news.kuwaittimes.net/banks-seek-approval-travel-loans/.Google Scholar
Koushki, P. A., Al-Rashid, K. and Kartam, N. (2005), ‘Delays and cost increases in the construction of private residential projects in Kuwait’, Construction Management and Economics, 23: 3, 285–94.Google Scholar
Lowi, M. R. (2009), Oil Wealth and the Poverty of Politics: Algeria Compared, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mahdavy, H. (1970), ‘The patterns and problems of economic development in rentier states: the case of Iran’, in Cook, M. A. (ed.), Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East: From the Rise of Islam to the Present Day, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 428–67.Google Scholar
Mahgoub, Y. (2007), ‘Architecture and the expression of cultural identity in Kuwait’, The Journal of Architecture, 12: 2, 1360–5.Google Scholar
Mellor, M. and Affleck, A. (2006), ‘Community development finance: a neo market solution to social exclusion?’, Journal of Social Policy, 35: 2, 303–19.Google Scholar
Mitton, L. (2008), Financial Inclusion in the UK: Review of Policy and Practice, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2222-financial-exclusion-policy.pdf.Google Scholar
New Policy Institute (2007), A Snapshot of Financial Inclusion: Policy and Practice in the UK 2007, London: NPI/Friends Provident Foundation, http://www.friendsprovidentfoundation.org/reports.asp?section=000100010003&itemid=42.Google Scholar
Othman, A. R. M. and Owen, H. L. (2005), ‘Managing and measuring customer service quality in Islamic banks: a study of the Kuwaiti Finance House’, in Iqbal, M. and Wilson, R. (eds.), Islamic Perspectives on Wealth Creation, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 6983.Google Scholar
Peck, J. and Theodore, N. (2007), ‘Variegated capitalism’, Progress in Human Geography, 31: 6, 731–72.Google Scholar
Peterson, J. E. (2009), ‘Britain and the Gulf: at the periphery of Empire’, in Potter, L. G. (ed.), The Persian Gulf in history, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 277–94.Google Scholar
Rowlingson, K. and Connor, S. (2011), ‘The deserving rich? Inequality, morality and social policy’, Journal of Social Policy, 40: 3, 437–52.Google Scholar
Rowlingson, K. and McKay, S. (2013), Financial Inclusion 2013: Annual Monitoring Report, Birmingham: University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
Sahar, A. H. and Khudadah, A. (2012), ‘Availability and usage of information and communication technologies statistics and their impacts: the case of Kuwait’, Central Statistical Bureau Kuwait.Google Scholar
Selvik, K. (2011), ‘Elite rivalry in a semi-democracy: the Kuwaiti press scene’, Middle Eastern Studies, 47: 3, 477–96.Google Scholar
Sharabi, H. (1988), Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, B. (2007), Hard Times in the Land of Plenty: Oil Politics in Iran and Indonesia, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, K. (2004), ‘The Kuwait Finance House and the Islamization of public life in Kuwait’, in Henry, C. M. and Wilson, R. (eds.), The Politics of Islamic Finance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 168–90.Google Scholar
State of Kuwait (2013), Main Features of Expatriate Labour Employment in the Private Sector as of 30/June 2013, State of Kuwait.Google Scholar
Tetreault, M. A. (2011), ‘Bottom-up democratization in Kuwait’, in Tetreault, M. A., Okruhlik, G. and Kapiszewski, A. (eds.), Political Change in the Arab Gulf States: Stuck in Transition, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 7398.Google Scholar
Toumi, H. (2014), ‘Asian expatriates outnumber natives in Kuwait’, Gulf News.com, 9 January, http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/asian-expatriates-outnumber-natives-in-kuwait-1.1275568.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. (2013), Economic Development in the Middle East, Lonndon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Yom, S. L. (2011), ‘Oil, coalitions, and regime durability: the origins and persistence of popular rentierism in Kuwait’, Studies in Comparative International Development, 46: 2, 217–41.Google Scholar