Kuwait Times, Wednesday, Aug 18, 2021 | Muharram 9, 1443
Kuwaiti ministries to limit public spending amid steps to address budget deficit
Emirates:
Kuwait’s Cabinet has
instructed all state bodies to limit spending to at least 10 percent as part of
plans to address the country’s budget deficit, ministers agreed on Monday. The
measures also call to limit spending on local and internationally-held functions
and exhibitions, travel expenses pertaining to overseas training, foreign
missions and medical treatment for nationals alongside a steps to ensure due
debts to the state are collected.
The move also includes the revision of incentives granted to leading officials
employed at state bodies and rent prices for state-owned real estate and land,
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah
said after ministers held their weekly Cabinet meeting, held at Seif Palace
under the chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled
Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
Additionally, the Public Authority for Manpower was instructed to assess whether
to halt providing financial incentives to privately-employed nationals, whose
wages exceed KD 3,000 a month. Furthermore, the ministers discussed a Central
Bank of Kuwait (CBK) report and a briefing by the General Secretariat of the
Supreme Council for Planning and Development, which both highlighted steps to
ensure improving the country’s sovereign credit rating over the next four years.
Both the minister of finance and state minister for economic affairs were
instructed to form a sovereign credit rating governance committee, tasked with
strengthening communication and the standardization of data with all rating
agencies and state bodies in order to achieve this goal. The committee, led by
the Ministry of Finance, will include the membership of CBK, the Kuwait
Investment Authority and the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for
Planning and Development.
COVID-19 update
Separately, the Cabinet were briefed, by Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel
Hmoud Al-Sabah, on the country’s health situation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister noted a continuing decline in coronavirus-related deaths,
infections and hospitalizations, adding that the recovery rate has increased to
97.7 percent. He highlighted ministry efforts to speed up vaccination against
the virus to reach social immunity. On this, the Cabinet said it appreciates the
cooperation of nationals and expatriates in implementing health requirements,
urging the public’s continued adherence to COVID-19 measures.
In the meantime, the Cabinet reiterated its denouncement of the continued Houthi
drone assaults on Saudi Arabia that aim to threaten the kingdom’s security. The
Cabinet said that the continuation of these hostile practices that target Saudi
Arabia’s stability and security constitutes a flagrant violation of the
principles of international humanitarian law that requires a decisive and rapid
move from the international community to deter these threats, Foreign Minister
and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad
Al-Sabah said after the meeting. It called for holding accountable all
perpetrators, stressing Kuwait’s full solidarity with the Kingdom in all
measures it takes to preserve its stability and security, he added.
Meanwhile, the ministers voiced Kuwait’s sympathy with Lebanon’s people over the
fuel tank blast took place a few days ago, north of the country, that left
dozens dead or wounded. They showed Kuwaiti’s full solidarity with the brotherly
Lebanese people in this painful incident, offering sincere condolences to the
families of the victims, wishing those injured a rapid recovery. In addition,
the Cabinet expressed Kuwait’s support to the Republic of Haiti over the quake
that led to gross material losses and deaths. It offered heartfelt condolences
to Haiti’s government, people and the families of the victims, wishing the
wounded a speedy recovery.