Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)

About the Kuwaiti Dinar

The Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) is the official currency of Kuwait, issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait and written د.ك. in Arabic script or KD in Latin abbreviation. Unusually among world currencies, the dinar divides into 1,000 fils rather than 100 subunits. Since 20 May 2007 the Central Bank has pegged the dinar to an undisclosed weighted basket of the currencies of Kuwait's major trade and financial partner countries.

Kuwait's exchange-rate policy has moved between basket and dollar pegs. From 18 March 1975 to 31 December 2002 the dinar was pegged to a weighted basket of the currencies of countries with significant trade and financial relations with Kuwait. Between 5 January 2003 and 19 May 2007 it was pegged to the US dollar at a parity rate of 299.63 fils per dollar with margins of ±3.5%, before the Central Bank of Kuwait repegged it to an undisclosed currency basket on 20 May 2007 to protect the dinar's purchasing power and contain inflationary pressures on the local economy.

The dinar became Kuwait's legal tender on 1 April 1961, when the first notes and coins entered circulation under the Kuwaiti Currency Law promulgated by Amiri Decree No. 41 of 1960, replacing the Indian rupee. The decree established the Kuwaiti Currency Board, chaired by the then Minister of Finance and Economy, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Central Bank of Kuwait, created under Law No. 32 of 1968, later took over the issue of notes and coins, releasing its first banknote series in 1970–1971.

The currency's history is marked by the Iraqi invasion of 1990. In the exceptional circumstances that followed, the Central Bank of Kuwait withdrew the entire third banknote issue effective 24 March 1991, and the notes ceased to be legal tender 45 days later. A fourth issue was released the same day, soon after liberation, to allow a speedy exchange of withdrawn notes and support the country's economic recovery; it was itself withdrawn on 17 August 1994 in favour of a fifth issue.

The sixth and current series of Kuwaiti banknotes entered circulation on 29 June 2014 in denominations of quarter, half, one, five, ten and twenty dinars, with designs depicting culturally significant buildings and Kuwait's economic accomplishments against a background of the national flag, raised print for the visually impaired, and colour-changing security features. Coins are struck in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 fils and have retained their design and technical specifications since their introduction on 1 April 1961.