Elated Kuwaitis praise sincere citizens for hike in Reserve Fund
“DURING the heathenish Iraqi invasion and occupation of our beloved country (from Aug 2, 1990 up to Feb 26, 1991), many Kuwaitis as usual were spending their summer vacation outside the country, since they are historically penchant for travel -- the habit and love for travel they have inherited from their forefathers,” columnist Oweid Al-Sulaili wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“The treachery befell suddenly on a very dark night.
During that time a citizen of a Gulf country who was stunned asked me about the situation of Kuwaitis who lived a luxurious life. I immediately responded saying by virtue of Almighty Allah and our leadership -- we pray to Almighty Allah to bless our leadership -- and our embassies throughout the world paid the Kuwaitis who were abroad their monthly salaries regularly without interruption in addition to giving housing allowance equivalent of living in a five-star hotel or paid the rent of a luxurious villa in addition to furniture and food allowances as well as the other financial requirements.
“The Gulf citizen was surprised and commented saying ‘I wish I was a Kuwaiti and I hope my Amir was Sheikh Jaber!
However, the narration of this simple story shows the State of Kuwait although it was occupied for seven months during which the oil exports remained suspended, the government resorted to the Future Generations Fund to finance the war of liberation and all requirements in addition to providing a good standard of living for all Kuwaitis abroad as well citizens who were inside the country.
“Not just that, this Fund covered the costs of reconstruction of the country from destruction caused by the barbaric invasion, the Fund that was the brainchild of the Amir of Hearts, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad, we pray to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon him -- during the 1970s to boost our country’s ability to encounter the disasters and the wars. This institution was led by a choice of homeland citizens.
“In this connection, the American ‘Bloomberg Agency’ in a statement said the balance of Kuwaiti Sovereign Fund or the ‘Next Generations Reserve’ was $700 billion -- the third sovereign fund in the world after the Norwegians and the Chinese. For its part, the Kuwaiti Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS), had declared earlier, that the value of the Kuwaiti Investment Portfolio had increased by $23.1 billion, as such the assets of this portfolio had soared to become $133.7 billion.
“It is needless to say this news is pleasing to the ear of the Kuwaiti people. In the meantime, PIFSS, has attributed this success to efforts exerted by sincere citizens who work day and night for the sake of progress and luxury of the homeland without paying attention to both the foreign secret hands and their local machineries who are working to undermine the reputation of the country and promote negativity in addition to their attempts to persuade all citizens that Kuwait is a failed state, given the fact such allegations fall within the relevant people’s intention to carry out their satanic schemes.
“In conclusion, greetings of reverence for HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad -- we pray to Almighty Allah to protect them -- for the great achievements and their persistent directions and control for the good of the homeland.
“In the meantime, we send greetings to all employees of both the Kuwait Investment Authority and the PIFSS for their sincere efforts for the sake of serving the beloved homeland.”
Also:
“A problem surfaced in the manpower required by both the public and the private sectors following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly since we know that the number of expatriates in the country fell, because some of them were abroad and were unable to return due to the preventive health measures taken by the Kuwaiti Ministry of health, and in spite of this the job opportunities that were made available for Kuwaiti graduates were less than the required number and this resulted in unemployment, particularly among those who are qualified,” columnist and administrative development and human resources consultant Abdullah Al-Abduljader wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“Of course, there is a government decision for Kuwaitization and this means every non-Kuwaiti employee is a ‘victim’ of the replacement policy including the Gulf citizens in ministries and other government institutions; this is in addition to instructions to the private sector determining the minimum number of Kuwaitis it should employ.
“Apart from the above, there is another government decision to review the population structure by reducing the number of expatriates particularly the socalled ‘menial’ workers and those who reside in the country illegally, the cause of which was the visa traders.
”As a matter of fact, the decisions and related problems need a review of manpower planning in addition to studying the actual employment need, particularly those who are required by the public sector in terms of volume and quality.
“The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), should in turn hasten to define the number of required employees and the posts awarded to them by the private sector in order to avert the repetition of the population structure problem and that of the menial manpower as well as the residence traffickers phenomena.”
“Ten years ago, when the price of a barrel of oil exceeded $100 and the State budget enjoyed financial surpluses and expenditures of about KD13 billion, I wished in my article in the newspaper to ‘stay hungry...stay ignorant’ such that the price of oil would drop to less than $30 dollars so we could wake up from dependence on a single source of income and a distorted economic system based on the employment of citizens in an unproductive public sector. Thus, we would be obligated to change this corrupt equation,” columnist Hasan AlMousawi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“The price of oil went down to less than $30 at the beginning of 2016, but we did not learn from that. We continued to increase expenses insanely and consume financial surpluses until the assets of the general reserve decreased from KD46 billion in 2014 to less than KD10 billion now. Liquidity is about to run out with the corona pandemic. The country has experienced a stifling liquidity crisis.
“We were supposed to learn from the second incident, after we missed the first opportunity. However, after looking at the details of the new budget, we find no indication of such learning.
“With a quick look at the new budget, we find that expenditures increased by KD1.4 billion to become KD23 billion, including KD16.5 billion for salaries and subsidies, while the expected revenues do not exceed KD11 billion. This means that revenues alone do not cover the two items -- salaries and subsidies. Though revenues are expected to increase due to the current oil price, we cannot rely on luck and the unknown to continue the irrational spending.
“Wastage and financial corruption are very clear and concentrated in salaries and subsidies (i.e. 71 percent of expenditures) for a bloated, corrupt bureaucratic apparatus which kills energies and obstructs achievement, a wastage that majority of parliamentarians who are claiming to be pro-reform do not want to address.”