Chief Executive Ibrahim Dabdoub also said he expects flat profits in 2011.
Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, including protests in Kuwait, has raised risk premiums and sent many investors to the sidelines.
"Our expansion plans have been regional. At the moment, we are putting all physical expansion plans on hold," he said. "We may revisit when things subside next year."
The bank said its 2011 profit forecast was partly as a result of limited loan growth while Chief Executive Ibrahim Dabdoub added it was well capitalized and had no plans for a bond issue this year.
"Overall our bottom line will be more or less similar to the $1.1 billion last year, which is not bad," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference.
The bank reported full year net profit of 301.7 million dinars ($1.08 billion), up from 265.2 million dinars in 2009.
NBK launched a heavily oversubscribed rights issue last year which was partly aimed at funding expansion plans in Kuwait and externally.
Dabdoub said the lender was targeting loan growth of 10 percent to 15 percent this year.
"The loan portfolio of most banks in the region has been flat. We haven't seen any economic activity to stimulate growth significantly," he said.
NBK shares were trading 1.7 percent lower on the Kuwait stock exchange at 0900 GMT. The broader index was down 0.5 percent.
The bank does not have any additional funding requirements for the year, Dabdoub said, adding he there was no need to tap capital markets for a bond or secondary share offering in 2011.
"We are very well capitalized at the moment. The capital adequacy ratio is above all regulatory requirements and there is no need for any additional capital," he said.
The lender will also not book any specific provisions in 2011, he added without giving details on the amount of money need to be set aside to meet loan losses in 2011.
"We don't need any specific provisions for this year. Things are not deteriorating and we are out of 2008-09 crisis," he said.
Developmental plans by the Kuwait government will begin to reflect during the second-half of the year but loan growth will remain subdued for most banks in the sector, Dabdoub said.
"We haven't seen any serious economic activity that will stimulate loan growth," he said.
However, recent initiatives by the government such as a $3.6 billion plan by the Kuwait Investment Authority to invest in the local commercial property market, are a positive, he said.
Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund launched the plan on Wednesday in a bid to bolster the struggling sector and benefit from plunging prices.
"It will go a long way in stimulating demand in the commercial real estate sector," he said.