Kuwait records KD 5.2 billion budget deficit by 2016’s end

KUWAIT:

The total deficit in Kuwait’s budget till the end of Dec 2016 was KD 5.2 billion, said a report by the finance ministry’s economic team, expecting the amount to fall a little after some government bodies make the needed settlements. The report also stressed that the deficit is expected to fall starting this month after the launch of the first Government Finance Management Information System. The report explained that the government will need KD 6.1 billion in funding for 2016-2017 after deducting the future generations share, and that an extra KD 3.5 billion would be needed in 2017 and 2018.

Fuel prices

MP Humoud Al-Khodair urged the government to return fuel prices to previous rates before the price increase was imposed in September 2016, especially since citizens are being overburdened with financial obligations in view of skyrocketing consumer prices. Khodair added that the parliamentary financial affairs committee members called for cancelling the fuel price increase and the law on increasing electricity and water tariffs. “Such repeated parliamentary calls are clear messages from the people to the government calling for recalculations and a response to calls capable of winning a majority vote in parliament,” he underlined. Khodair stressed that the government’s excuse that such calls and proposals were unconstitutional were nothing but attempts to avoid confrontation. “I advise the government to yield to these calls,” he added, noting that the government’s cooperation in this regard would be for the greater good and for that of work within the parliament.

Mega projects

Ministry of Public Work’s (MPW) Undersecretary Awatif Al-Ghunaim said that the ministry was waiting for the finance ministry’s approval of MPW’s projects budget of KD 1.1 billion needed for all the ministry’s mega construction and maintenance projects. Ghunaim added that a meeting would be held with the parliament to discuss the loose gravel on various road and the solution to be used.

Accreditation

Education Minister Mohammed AlFares issued a ministerial decision on regulating the accreditation of school leaving certificates issued by Arab private schools outside Kuwait. The regulations conditioned that a student should file his mark sheets starting from grade 11, prove that he only attended morning classes, be within the maximum age category, be a regular student and that the certificates are attested from relevant authorities.

KUWAIT: Shuwaikh firemen responded to the scene of a traffic accident reported yesterday in the area. They freed a Kuwaiti who was trapped in one of the vehicles involved in the accident. The man was taken along with another crash victim, an Asian...