‘Need to expedite economic reforms, protect funds for future generations’
“WHEN he was president of the Finance Committee of the Council of Planning in 1971 the late Mr. Abdurrahman Al-Ateeqi (who was also the minister of finance), had suggested that the State of Kuwait, should reduce of its oil output (which was during that time 3.4 million barrels per day) or the surplus from oil revenues, should be deposited in a special account to meet the requirements of the future generations,” columnist, former MP and former minister of justice Ahmad Yaqoub Baqer wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“However, after more studies, the proposal was referred to the then National Assembly, but this proposal, was endorsed only in August 1976. During the dissolution of the National Assembly, in response to a suggestion submitted by Al-Ateeqi, the then Crown Prince and Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, had issued the Decreed Law No. 106/1976.
“The first article said 10 percent of the State revenues should be deducted while the second article stipulated that this proportion will be deemed as an alternative reserve for the oil wealth to be called ‘The Future Generations Reserve’, adding that the profits generated by investments from this reserve will go into same account. Likewise, this article stipulated that 50 percent of the money of the then general reserve should be added to the balance of this account.
“The third article of the pertinent Decreed Law banned the reduction of the stipulated percentage and forbid the withdrawal of any money from this reserve and as a result the Future Generations Fund grew in spite of some cases of corruption and prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait the balance was $100 billion.
“Following the invasion all oil and non-oil related revenues stopped, and we found how the Future Generations Fund played its role as the sole source of funds to meet the requirements of the liberation war, to keep intact the standard of living of the citizens and the reconstruction process of the country and the government withdrew $70 billion from this fund.
“For his part, the chairman of Kuwait Investment Fund Mr. Abdullah AlQabandi had submitted a proposal to the government not to liquidate the remaining assets of the Fund in view of its importance and the difficulty in the liquidity process.
“Mr. Al-Qabandi, had instead called for borrowing from banks to finance the state budget in view of the oil wells burning throughout the country. And this is what actually occurred as Kuwait borrowed what was then called ‘the jumbo loan’ of $5 billion only.
“Anyway, we found from 2014 and until now the state budget suffers from consecutive deficit due to a drop in the oil prices and the oil and the non oil revenues are not enough to cover the accelerating state overheads and both government and the National Assembly have resorted to withdraw from the general reserves through the government decisions and parliamentary laws and as much as KD 50 billion have been withdrawn and as a result the liquidity of this reserve is gradually depleting.
“In view of the persistent deficit in the state budget, law No 8/2020, was enacted to remit 10 percent of the state revenues into Future Generations Reserve but this was stopped because the state budget didn’t have any surplus, as such the concerned authorities started thinking to withdraw from this reserve to cover the state budget.
“However, with reference to what had been mentioned in the above law that the reserve was established as an alternative for the oil wealth in addition not to withdraw from the same, we observed some significant facts and principles whose objectives must be understood properly and eventually enforce the same immediately such as:
“It is necessary for the State to maintain a financial reserve and foreign investments that should be enough to deal with any type of crises and disasters or any futuristic wars in the region or any prospective drop in the oil prices. Likewise, these facts and principles, confirm the necessity of refuting the allegations of those who are sarcastic of the concept of the future generations and consider themselves as future generations.
“It is necessary not to depend on the oil as the sole source of income and hasten to adopt economic reforms to guarantee new revenues and create sustainable job opportunities for the youth without opting to withdraw from the financial reserve.
“The need to foster future generations reserve and protect it from being exhausted; the necessity of protecting the Future Generations Reserve from any type of violation, corruption or profiteering and this can be realized by imposing accurate financial control; the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) should resort to the Islamic investment channels.”
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“The political and economic reforms which people are preoccupied with are very important. These reforms will not make us forget about the need to protect society and provide for its needs. All State institutions are duty bound to work together in laying down comprehensive and preventive national policies in these fields in line with the fundamentals of our religion and guaranteed by the Constitution,” columnist Waleed Al-Ghanim wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Heinous crimes continue at an alarming rate, the last of which is the murder of policeman Abdulaziz Al-Rashidi, may God have mercy on him.
“State institutions are hesitant and weak in playing their role in protecting society from the causes of these crimes, promotion of all types of drugs, ease of using knives, poor quality of equipment, preparation and organization of police personnel, and the absence of awareness message for the youths.
“The National Assembly is directly responsible for the absence of a law criminalizing the import and sale of cold weapons to the public. A draft law on criminalizing the import and sale of these weapons was presented to the Assembly eight years ago but no decision has been taken since then.
“This draft law was presented to more than one Assembly and has not been approved until today. This draft law was presented to the 2013 and 2016 assemblies, yet it is locked up in the concerned committees. It has not been given priority for unknown reasons.”
“He is not a famous European singer, artist or football player to be received by the press, fans, officials and members of the public. He is Dr. Bassam AlFaili, the Director General of the Kuwait Orbital Space Company. When he arrived at Kuwait International Airport, he was received only by his family”, columnist Muhammad Al-Jumaa wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Recently, he had announced the launch of the first Kuwaiti satellite from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida. The “Kuwait Moon” is a step into the future of Kuwait’s journey into space, with hopes of building national capabilities in designing and developing communications technology via satellite.
“A scientific experiment to space from Kuwait was conducted several months ago. The ambition of Dr. Bassam Al-Faili and his colleagues is to establish a Kuwaiti space program that specializes in all aspects of development and design in the space field like in other countries.
“Many creative and loyal youth raised the name of Kuwait high in international scientific, cultural and other forums, but it is unfortunate that we rarely hear about them, even though they represent the promised future. Encouraging them financially and morally is necessary in order for Kuwait to take several steps forward. They are the balm that we anoint with joy to hear and see achievements and innovations in all fields. If we have no luck in football or other fields, we have a space for the creativity of ambitious youth.
“Kuwait, even though it is small in size, is great in generosity. It is full of innovators who have written its history with letters of gold. This is a competition between generations in the love of the homeland by raising its flag in international forums, because Kuwait is the constant presence. Therefore, we have the right to honor them and make them known in social media and other media, as well as document their scientific, literary, cultural, social and other achievements.
“The French scholar Voltaire said - It is better for me to read a good word about me on an inside page, than to have the first page dedicated to me and written about me after my death.”