Analysis reveals persistent slowdown in Kuwait’s development plan implementation
This performance stagnation reflects a widening gap between allocated funds and tangible results on the ground. Despite annual allocations exceeding one billion dinars in recent years, spending and implementation rates continue to decline, raising concerns about the effectiveness of Kuwait’s development planning system.
- Experts attribute the slowdown to several factors, including procedural complexities in project approval, delays in awarding contracts, and weak coordination between implementing and regulatory authorities. Bureaucratic entanglements, overlapping responsibilities, and slow decision-making processes have contributed significantly to the lag in project delivery.
- To address these challenges, analysts recommend a comprehensive restructuring of the government project management system. This includes implementing real-time monitoring mechanisms that link financial disbursement directly to project progress, and enforcing strict accountability measures for delays.
- The analysis underscores the urgent need for systemic reform, better coordination among stakeholders, and technological tools to monitor and manage project implementation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that future development plans achieve their intended impact for Kuwait’s citizens and residents.
A recent analysis of Kuwait’s development plan data from fiscal 2010/2011 to 2025/2026 indicates a continuing slowdown in project execution, both in financial spending and time management, despite the allocation of billions of dinars annually.
According to statistics, the total funds allocated for development projects over the past 16 years have reached approximately 52.5 billion dinars, yet only 33.8 billion dinars were actually spent, representing an average implementation rate of just 64.32%.
The data also highlighted that the peak allocation year was 2012/2013 at 5.94 billion dinars, followed by 2015/2016 at 5.79 billion dinars, while recent annual allocations have dropped to around 1.3 billion dinars, reports Al-Jarida daily.
In terms of spending efficiency, the fiscal year 2017/2018 recorded the highest implementation rate at 86%, which has steadily declined to just 43% in 2024/2025.
The executive summary of the 2025/2026 annual plan, reviewed at the end of the first quarter, revealed that 15% of projects had not yet started—up from 11% in 2023/2024 and 13% in 2024/2025.
The preparatory phase also declined slightly to 33%, while the implementation phase showed a marginal drop to 48% from 50% the previous year. Meanwhile, the delivery phase has remained almost stagnant at 4%, with no projects fully completed by the end of the first quarter in the last three years, indicating a clear bottleneck in converting projects from execution to delivery.
The overall monitoring of the plan highlighted that 70% of projects are behind schedule, 28% are on track, and only 2% are ahead of schedule.
This performance stagnation reflects a widening gap between allocated funds and tangible results on the ground. Despite annual allocations exceeding one billion dinars in recent years, spending and implementation rates continue to decline, raising concerns about the effectiveness of Kuwait’s development planning system.
Experts attribute the slowdown to several factors, including procedural complexities in project approval, delays in awarding contracts, and weak coordination between implementing and regulatory authorities. Bureaucratic entanglements, overlapping responsibilities, and slow decision-making processes have contributed significantly to the lag in project delivery.
To address these challenges, analysts recommend a comprehensive restructuring of the government project management system. This includes implementing real-time monitoring mechanisms that link financial disbursement directly to project progress, and enforcing strict accountability measures for delays.
Accelerating the project approval and award cycle, streamlining inter-agency procedures, and reducing bureaucratic hurdles are considered crucial steps to transform development plans from paper-based allocations into visible, on-the-ground achievements.
Observers emphasize that without significant reforms, the continued decline in completion rates will undermine the objectives of Kuwait’s multi-year development plans, leaving billions of dinars underutilized and limiting the country’s progress in critical infrastructure, social services, and economic diversification.
Achieving effective execution requires both political will and institutional efficiency to turn financial commitments into concrete development outcomes.
The analysis underscores the urgent need for systemic reform, better coordination among stakeholders, and technological tools to monitor and manage project implementation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that future development plans achieve their intended impact for Kuwait’s citizens and residents.
