The above indicators unveil the Central Bank of Kuwait’s prudent policy and proactive approach that helped banks to weather one of the most difficult economic crises from a position of strength, and continue providing their services efficiently. Having considered the positive results and resilience of the banking sector, the Central Bank of Kuwait decided to lift restrictions and lay down a map to redirect its regulatory mitigants to prepandemic thresholds. Notwithstanding the banking sector’s sound indicators, high liquidity ratio and strong solvency, the estimated liquidity and solvency ratios above the minimum regulatory thresholds, and outlook of healthy growth, the Central Bank of Kuwait decided to gradually unwind the regulatory mitigants in line with the IMF recommendations. The first phase of our 2-phased transition began early 2022 by withdrawing 50% of the regulatory mitigants. The second phase of withdrawal process shall be completed early 2023 to return to the previous pre-crisis regulatory thresholds. Meanwhile, we shall still support small and medium enterprises by maintaining the same risk weight, and closely monitor the performance of the banking sector and conduct stress testing on its various units. Though the Central Bank of Kuwait is satisfied of the resilience of the banking and financial sector in the State of Kuwait, the developments recently seen in the world and the evolving risks surrounding the prospects of the global economy drive our efforts to protect our economy and banking and financial sectors from external shocks through proper monetary policies and supervisory measures.

Role of technology in optimising potential of Islamic finance One final point before I conclude – technology makes the impossible possible. Recent financial technology advancements enable Islamic finance industry players to deliver practical yet value-adding solutions. For instance, application of blockchain6 to address challenges7 in managing endowment fund (waqf). Fintech is rapidly changing the facets of the global financial industry, reshaping expectations of consumers and businesses on financial services. There are untapped opportunities of fintech to develop financial solutions that can help drive Islamic finance to deliver even greater, wider and deeper positive impact – particularly in realising its promise in risk-sharing and providing support for genuine and productive economic activities. Technology can also widen access to and increase outreach of social finance instruments through digitisation of collection and disbursement of the proceeds. Fintech startups such as LaunchGood and SkolaFund are already making their name in social impact initiatives, which is a promising start. Conclusion Financial institutions need to look beyond short-term profitability. It is imperative for financial 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  intermediaries to be seen fulfilling the needs of the economy, society and environment at large. Moving forward, ‘change of mindset’ is eminent. While considering profit, financial institutions should not forgo the element of being socially and environmentally responsible. I believe setting the ‘Tone from the top’ is key in this process. The organisation of today’s roundtable forum is indeed very apt.