What was the name of Kuwait’s 1982 unregulated stock-market crash?

Kuwait’s 1982 unregulated stock-market crash was called Souk Al-Manakh.

Souk Al-Manakh was an unofficial market in Kuwait that traded shares, including speculative companies that were not listed on the country’s formal exchange. Rapid economic growth, abundant liquidity, and easy credit encouraged investors to buy shares at dramatically inflated prices.

The market unraveled in 1982 when a large number of postdated checks used in share transactions could not be settled. The collapse created enormous debts and forced the Kuwaiti government to intervene. The crisis was exceptionally severe relative to Kuwait’s economy and affected banks, brokers, and private investors.

The name is sometimes translated as “climate market,” but it refers specifically to the informal Kuwaiti trading venue, not to a general type of bubble. Souk Al-Manakh is also distinct from the 1987 Black Monday crash, which was a global public-equity sell-off centered on major international exchanges.