The Souk Al-Manakh market was housed in an air-conditioned parking garage in Kuwait City.
The market operated in Jibla, a historic area of Kuwait City, as an unofficial alternative to Kuwait’s regulated stock exchange. Its unusual setting reflected its informal character: traders dealt in highly speculative shares, particularly of companies based outside Kuwait, while much of the market’s credit system depended on postdated checks.
Souk Al-Manakh expanded after tighter regulations followed Kuwait’s 1977 official-market crash. Speculators who found the formal exchange too restrictive moved into the parallel market, and the boom eventually attracted both new investors and established financiers. At its peak, its capitalization was reported to be the world’s third largest, behind only the United States and Japan.
The setting is often remembered because it contrasts sharply with the market’s extraordinary scale. The market’s collapse began in August 1982 after a postdated check bounced, and Kuwait shut it down the following month. The resulting banking crisis and debt burden spread through the Kuwaiti economy and contributed to a wider Gulf recession. The city answer is Kuwait City, while Kuwait is the country.