Kuwait govt reviews Central Bank’s strategy on citizens’ quality training
Cabinet touts SAB scrutiny over COVID-19 response spending
KUWAIT: Kuwait Government Monday reviewed a Central Bank’s strategy aimed at providing high-quality training for citizens to work in the banking and financial sectors. Around 130 Kuwaiti citizens benefit from this training every year, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh said in a statement after a cabinet meeting chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled AlHamad Al-Sabah.
Saleh, also Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, said citizens would get training in prestigious institutes like Harvard program for development of financial and banking and on cyber-security leadership, risk management and economic studies. He said trainees would select the department they wished to work in, and they would not bear expenses of training abroad. The cabinet, meanwhile, assigned a higher committee to implement recommendations to address what it called “disruption in structure of the population.” The government, said Saleh, assigned the Public Authority for Manpower to double for six months support of citizens registered at PAM under Chaprter V, and the government would compensate any cuts of salaries of citizens registered under Chapter III for six months, providing they were not fired. The government called for providing logistical support and proper security environment for citizens who were building houses in Al-Mutlaa City, and approved the construction of a medical city in Sabah AlAhmad City.
COVID-19 response Meanwhile, the cabinet underlined the significant role of the State Audit Bureau (SAB) in surveillance over spending on the fight against novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This came following a briefing by SAB Chairman Faisal AlShaya during the cabinet meeting. Shaya expounded on the mechanism of considering spending orders from different state agencies for combatting the virus and fulfilling all relevant needs, said a cabinet statement. The cabinet voiced satisfaction with the briefing of the SAB’s chief and stressed the agency’s constructive supervisory role and positive cooperation with other state bodies, leading to smooth disbursements and financing.
Earlier on Monday, SAB said it is committed to practicing “effective scrutiny” over public funds and government contracts related to coronavirus measures to prevent any waste of these funds. Several state bodies have received similar purchase orders, particularly for sterile materials, amid the exceptional circumstances that the country is going through and the preventive measures assumed by these bodies, Acting Director of Advance Oversight for economic Affairs Khawla Al-Hathran said. Ministry order
A Ministry of Defense order for 200,000 (500ml) sanitizer packages, from a company, was worth KD 2.950 per package ($9) while a similar order for the Ministry of Health, for one million (500ml) sanitizer packages from a local factory, was valued at KD 0.800 ($2.5) per package, she said. The bureau has informed the defence ministry of the need to coordinate with the Ministry of Health on this matter due to the low price of the offer presented to the health ministry.
The MoD has reevaluated its order documentation, sending it once again to to the SAB, including a contract with the local company, offering the price of KD 1.000 ($3.3). The disparity with the Ministry of Health contract, according to the company, is due to the difference in the quantities purchased and the high price of raw materials in international markets. This has saved the country public funds worth KD 390,000 ($1.248 million), Hathran explained. —