National Bank of Kuwait has been upgraded to AA- from A+, while Kuwait Finance House, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Industrial Bank of Kuwait and Gulf Bank, have all been upgraded to A+ from A.

On 4 September Fitch upgraded the Kuwaiti sovereign credit rating following the huge surplus being generated by high oil prices (MEED 4:9:08).

The rating agency says all five banks have been deemed highly likely to receive financial support from the state due to their size and the government's ownership of stakes in the banks.