Gulf Business Magazine Subscribe to Gulf Business and receive 1,000 FREE Skywards Miles, and the chance to win a further 100,000 in our quarterly draw. Charles Schwab delayed by 20 mins. On that day, the final instalment was paid in the notorious bad debt programme - the government rescue package which bailed out investors and banks in the wake of the 1982 stockmarket crash and the Gulf War. The event was heralded as an landmark in Kuwait's economic and commercial development.
International observers share some of that sense of occasion.
It is symbolic and worth celebrating. The bad debt programme was conceived by the government in 1992. The 11,766 debtors now owed the money to the state, which gave them two repayment options. The vast majority chose the bad debt programme, which forgave up to 79 per cent of the money owed. The repayment plan was restructured throughout the 1990s, and the final instalment was paid on September 6.