Kuwait Approves Budget with $40 Bln Deficit

Kuwait approved the state budget despite a row at the National Assembly. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kuwait approved the state budget despite a row at the National Assembly. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Kuwait Approves Budget with $40 Bln Deficit

Kuwait approved the state budget despite a row at the National Assembly. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kuwait approved the state budget despite a row at the National Assembly. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Kuwait’s National Assembly approved Tuesday the government budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022, despite a standoff between members of the parliament.

Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim said that the budget was passed with a slim majority with 32 MPs out of 63, including 16 ministers in favor and one against, while 30 opposition lawmakers refused to vote.

The budget, proposed by the government in January, projected $76.65 billion in expenditure for the fiscal year that started on April 1, with revenues amounting to $36 billion and a deficit of $40 billion, reported the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The vote came amid heated discussions between the opposition deputies and the government.

The ministers, who are also members of parliament, voted on the budget by standing after members of parliament occupied their seats. They also stood at the entrance to the hall while some deputies rapped on tables in an attempt to disrupt the discussions.

Chaos ensued in the parliament after the vote, and the guards entered the hall to restore order after a fight broke out between the rival MPs.

Ghanim had called for the special session to debate the budget at a time when the nation is trying to boost state finances and support an economy that shrank 9.9 percent in 2020 due to low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have the right to request a special session because all regular sessions have been disrupted,” Ghanim said, referring to opposition tactics.

Opposition lawmakers insist on questioning Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah on the constitutionality of a motion passed in March to postpone any questioning of the premier until the end of 2022, in addition to other issues such as corruption.

Kuwait is currently going through one of the most severe financial crises, as most of the General Reserve Fund has been depleted due to the decline in oil prices and the repercussions of the pandemic.

Finance Minister Khalifa Hamada said after presenting the draft budget that the assets of the Future Generations Fund are growing, but the General Reserve Fund suffers from liquidity challenges.

On Monday, Hamada said that despite the great challenges in the state budget, the executive authority is committed to observing the standard of living of citizens, implementing development projects, stimulating economic growth and supporting the growth of domestic product.

Some 71.6 percent of expenditure is allocated for job support, the minister revealed, while some 15 percent of total spending would go towards development projects, chief among them infrastructure and residential ones.

The draft budget was prepared on the basis of an average oil price of $45 per barrel and a production rate of 2.4 million barrels per day, while the breakeven between expenditures and revenues requires a price of $90 per barrel.



Syria, World Bank Discuss Tools to Support Syrian Economic Recovery

People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Syria, World Bank Discuss Tools to Support Syrian Economic Recovery

People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Members of the Syrian government and a delegation from the World Bank discussed in Damascus tools to support Syria's economic recovery, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Sources told Reuters on Saturday that Syrian officials are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C. this month, which would be the first such visit in at least two decades.

Syria has around $15 million in arrears to the World Bank which must be paid off before the international financial institution can approve grants and provide other forms of assistance.

But Damascus is short of foreign currency and a previous plan to pay off the debts using assets frozen abroad did not materialize, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A technical delegation from the World Bank met with Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh on Monday, according to the Syrian state news agency Sana.
The meeting, which was the first public meeting between the Syrian government and the World Bank, included discussions on strengthening financial and economic ties between the two sides.
Bernieh also highlighted the negative effects of the international sanctions imposed on Syria and policies of the former regime on the country's financial and banking sector.