(With photos) KUWAIT, May 7 (KUNA) -- International credit rating agencies gave most of Kuwaiti banks "good" ratings in comparison with banks in the Middle East and North Africa, former Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah said Monday.

Sheikh Salem, in a speech during a ceremony organized by the union of Kuwait Banks to honor him, said during his service at the helm of the central bank for over 35 years, Kuwaiti banks experienced many setbacks and achievements.

He said Kuwaiti banks were capable of confronting difficult conditions related to work environments thus maintaining solid capitals used to confront "powerful shocks in addition to enjoying high levels of liquidity." Profits of most of Kuwaiti banks are relative good amidst ongoing circumstances, he said.

Sheikh Salem called upon the supervising authority to give banks a space to operate freely to prove themselves. However, he added, this would need time because a successful and stable banking operation was highly based on trust.

"Building confidence is pivotal and crucial and depends on professional, legal and moral action by those responsible of banks' operations, in addition to improving efficiency of services and products that banks offer to clients," said the former central bank chief.

Hamad Al-Marzouq, chairman of the Kuwaiti banks union, praised Sheikh Salem for his service and his contribution to strengthening financial and monetary stability in Kuwait.

Sheikh Salem helped the banking sector and the national economy to overcome many financial turmoils over the past three decades, said Al-Marzouq, which thus shielded the sector from impacts of the global economic crisis.

Sheikh Salem, he added, largely contributed to arranging the funding for the reconstruction of Kuwait and addressing banks' conditions following the war of liberation from the Iraqi invasion in 1991.

Al-Marzouq disclosed that Sheikh Salem had personally supervised the delivery of money for the Kuwaiti resistant inside Kuwait during the Iraqi occupation.