In which city was the Souk Al-Manakh market located?

The Souk Al-Manakh market was located in Kuwait City. It operated in the historic Jibla area, where the market was housed in an air-conditioned parking garage.

Its unusual setting reflected the market’s informal character. Souk Al-Manakh developed outside Kuwait’s official stock exchange and attracted speculation in companies from Kuwait and other Gulf states. Oil wealth had left many Kuwaitis with substantial funds, while stricter official-market rules pushed risk-seeking traders toward the alternative venue.

The market expanded rapidly through unregulated credit and postdated checks. At its peak, its capitalization was reported to have reached the world’s third-highest level, behind the United States and Japan. That growth proved unstable when a check bounced in 1982.

Manama, Doha, and Dubai are also important Gulf financial centers, but they were not the location of Souk Al-Manakh. The name refers to the Kuwaiti market, not to a city or country outside Kuwait.