Kuwait budget deficit for FY 2023 - 2024 to pass KD 5BN

Kuwait Ministry of Finance said that the expected deficit in the State’s general budget for the next fiscal year (2023-2024) is estimated at 5.053 billion Kuwaiti dinars (about 16.3 billion US dollars), after calculating the expected profits of independent entities.

The Ministry of Finance added in a press statement Tuesday, that it submitted the draft budget to the National Assembly for deliberation and approval, indicating that the next budget will start on the first of April 2023 and ends on March 31, 2024.

It stated that the total estimated revenues amounted to 19.4 billion dinars (about 62.2 billion dollars), while the estimated oil revenues amounted to 17.1 billion dinars (about 56 billion dollars), while the estimated non-oil revenues amounted to 2.2 billion dinars (about 7.2 billion dollars). It indicated that the total estimated expenditures amounted to 26.2 billion dinars (about 85.7 billion dollars), explaining that the increase in expenditures includes covering previous deficits related to the dues of the Ministry of Electricity and Water and the Ministry of Oil, and the cash allowance for buying earned leave from workers in the public sector.

The Ministry of Finance said that the state is following a tight plan to gradually increase nonoil revenues over the coming years, in addition to reforms to ration and rationalize expenditures and increase spending efficiency, which will gradually come into effect.

It explained that the budget for the next fiscal year is an unusual budget, as it is loaded with non-recurring expenses and accrued entitlements from previous years, including the payment of accumulated dues to the Ministry of Electricity and Water about 745 million dinars (about 2.4 billion dollars) and the Ministry of Oil amounts to 319 million dinars (about 1 billion dollars).