The Kuwaiti Cabinet announced the new budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022, which includes a deficit of $39.9 billion, equivalent to 13.8% of the targeted deficit in the current fiscal budget ending in March.
According to a statement from the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and calculations from the Ministry of Finance, the budget includes expenditures of $76.1 billion and revenues of $36 billion. The budget draft was prepared based on an average oil price of $45 per barrel and a production rate of 2.4 million barrels per day, while the breakeven price for balancing expenditures and revenues is $90 per barrel. Khalifa M. Hamada, the Kuwaiti Minister of Finance, stated that the world is experiencing exceptional circumstances, and Kuwait is not immune to these changes. The public finances are currently in a critical phase that requires collective efforts. Hamada added that the percentage of salaries and subsidies from the total expenditures in the new budget will be 71.6%, while capital expenditures will account for 15%.
