Kuwaiti shareholder Mohammad Yousuf Behbehani has received central bank's approval to raise his stake in Al Ahli Bank to 15 per cent, the stock exchange said in a statement.

Behbehani currently owns a 4.9 per cent stake in the lender and the approval is valid for three months, the statement said on its website.

He will be the biggest shareholder in the bank if the transaction is completed, according to bourse data.

'The Behbehani family are the main shareholders in the bank...the sale might happen through a family arrangement, or he could buy directly from stock market,' said Naser Al-Nafisi, the general manager for Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy, Kuwait.

Earlier this year, ABK's deputy chief general manager told Reuters that the lender was planning to expand in Qatar in 2011 in order to capitalise on opportunities in the Gulf state after its winning bid for the 2022 soccer world cup.

Shares of ABK were trading flat at 0.63 dinars ($2.286) on the Kuwaiti bourse on Tuesday.-Reuters