By 1979, the year Souk Al-Manakh was established, Kuwait already had a robust financial sector and more stocks than any other Gulf country.

The crash of the unofficial stock market finally came in August 1982, when a dealer presented a postdated check from a young Passport Office employee for payment and it bounced.

By September 1982, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance ordered all dubious checks to be turned in for clearance, and shut down the Souk Al-Manakh.

In the end, the government stepped in, devising a complicated set of policies, embodied in the Difficult Credit Facilities Resettlement Program.

Coupled with reduced oil revenues caused by the ongoing Iran–Iraq War, the Souk Al-Manakh crash helped to push the entire Gulf region into a recession.