Kuwait on Monday announced a state budget for the year ending on March 31, 2019, that projects spending at 20bn dinars ($66.7bn) and revenues at 15bn dinars.
The Kuwaiti Finance Minister Nayef al-Hajraf said the budget would be based on an average oil price of $50 per barrel, and that the deficit would be financed by borrowing and using reserves.
The 5bn dinar deficit would be before the transfer of 10% of revenues to Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund.The Kuwaiti Finance Minister Nayef al-Hajraf said the budget would be based on an average oil price of $50 per barrel, and that the deficit would be financed by borrowing and using reserves.
The budget deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2018, was estimated at 6.556bn dinars before the 10% deposit into the sovereign wealth fund, according to a calculation by Reuters.
Hajraf said that subsidies are projected at 3.432bn dinars of the budget.
The budget for the current fiscal year was estimated based on an oil price of $45.
Oil revenues are expected to reach 13.3bn dinars, up from 11.7bn dinars a year ago. Non-oil income is projected to remain almost flat at 1.6bn dinars.