Kuwait's government is boosting domestic debt issues to finance a budget deficit caused by low oil prices, selling KWD600mn (cUSD2bn) of bonds and Islamic tawarruq since the start of this fiscal year on 1 April, central bank data showed. A government source told Reuters on Thursday that the issues, which had maturities of between one and five years and carried rates of between 1.25% and 2.50%, were equally divided between conventional bonds and tawarruq. In tawarruq, the government buys an asset at a marked-up price to be paid at a later date, and sells that asset immediately to raise cash. The source said the central bank had chosen to use tawarruq instead of Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, because a legal structure allowing the government to issue sukuk had yet to be completed and the government did not want to deprive Islamic banks of the chance of subscribing to state debt. (Reuters)