Indian expats in Kuwait worried over salaries

Indian expats in Kuwait is worried over their salaries beyond October. This could mean that private entities, especially providing contracts and other indirect services to the government sector, would be materially affected.

Though it is difficult to estimate the number of Indians/Kerala expats working in this segment, it could be quite high. The possibility of job losses is likely in the near term, says Krishnan Ramachandran, CEO, Barjeel Geojit Securities, Dubai.

Kuwait’s Finance Minister Barak Al-Sheetan assessed that his country has two billion dinars ($6.6 billion) worth of liquidity, which is not enough to cover state salaries beyond October. The government is withdrawing money from the General Reserve Fund at a rate of 1.7 billion dinars a month and this would result in weakening liquidity.

Unless there is any improvement in oil prices, Kuwait will not be in a position to borrow from local and international markets.

This could lead to a delay in salary disbursal and payments to the citizens of Kuwait, and more importantly expats dominated by Indians working in the government sector.

There’s the risk of large-scale job losses and also delays in issue of end-of-service benefits, he said. However, he expressed the hope that Kuwait would be able to manage the present situation considering its oil reserves, which is the sixth largest in the world, and the country’s capability to raise funds globally.