Kuwait's cabinet has new oil, finance minister

Kuwait's emir on Monday approved the formation of a new cabinet that included new ministers of oil and finance for the OPEC member state, the government communications office said, following a parliamentary election this month.

Mohammad Abdulatif al-Fares was named oil, electricity and water minister, replacing Khaled al-Fadhel, it said in a Twitter post. Khalifa Hamade became finance minister, replacing Barak al-Shitan.

The election was held at a critical moment for an economy reeling from lower oil prices, the coronavirus pandemic and stalled reform. Lawmakers have thwarted plans to reallocate state handouts and blocked proposals to issue debt.

Kuwait's economy, which is worth nearly $140 billion, is facing a deficit of $46 billion this year. A priority of the new government will be to pass a bill allowing Kuwait to tap international debt markets.

The previous cabinet had resigned following the election in which opposition candidates made gains and around two thirds of lawmakers lost their seats.

It’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah’s second cabinet in less than a year, and 10 of its 16 members are new, many of them technocrats. In accordance with the country’s constitution, the government must resign after parliamentary elections and a new cabinet formed within two weeks.