Municipality’s budget cap set at 148 million dinars for FY 2025-26
In order to rationalize spending and control expenses without compromising the services it provides, the Ministry of Finance has set the ceiling for the Kuwait Municipality’s budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026, at 148 million dinars.
The Ministry stated, in a letter from the Assistant Undersecretary for General Budget Affairs and Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, Saad Al-Alaati, to the Director of Kuwait Municipality, Saud Al-Dubos, regarding the estimates of the spending ceilings in the draft budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026.
In the letter it was noted that the current financial situation of the state has reached the necessity of setting spending ceilings for all government agencies, so a specific ceiling was set for Kuwait Municipality.
The Ministry of Finance requested that the Municipality’s budget project for the fiscal year 2025-2026, be submitted according to the dates set by the Ministry.
This will be in accordance with what was entered into the Government Financial Management System (GFMIS), noting that all projects submitted to the Ministry, will be returned in the event of non-compliance with this ceiling, as stated in Article No. 25 of the general rules of the circular.
Further to this, the Ministry of Finance stressed to those concerned in the Municipality, when preparing the draft budget for the fiscal year, to take into consideration ‘rationalizing spending and controlling expenses without compromising the services provided by the entity’ in accordance with Cabinet Resolutions No. 51 of 2014 and 728 of 2020. Also, all government agencies must make efforts and regulate and determine the aspects of spending.
The Ministry of Finance also specified an estimate of the number of new appointees in the entity, while adhering to this estimate during the implementation of the budget, and arranging the priorities of construction projects and contracts when preparing the draft budget.
Also reviewing the fees for the services provided and increasing their value in proportion to their cost, in addition to raising the efficiency of collecting government revenues and collecting debts due to the government.
In addition, The Ministry of Finance stated that it is possible to view the Finance Minister’s Circular No. 3 of 2024 regarding the preparation of budget estimates for ministries, government departments and affiliated bodies and the foundations and rules that should be followed in preparing them, according to the budget classifications for the fiscal year 2024/2025 on the Ministry of Finance’s website.
To conclude, the Finance Ministry said that the circular comes due to the importance of the role played in contributing towards preparing the state budget as partners in that, based on what is stipulated in Article No. 140 of the Constitution that ‘the state prepares the draft annual budget that includes the state’s revenues and expenditures, and submits it to the National Assembly at least two months before the end of the fiscal year for examination and approval’.