The government has now ruled out adopting the recommendations of international economic agencies that advised Kuwait in special reports to increase fuel prices “to match international prices, and to support the state’s budget resources, especially since the current prices are considered among the lowest in the world.”
A ministerial source told a local Arabic daily that the file of increasing fuel prices is not on the table of the government subsidy review committee, which is headed by the Ministry of Finance, indicating that this committee reviews market conditions, compares them with the value of subsidies, and monitors their adequacy and whether they need to be increased, reduced, or directed to specific categories, rather than generalized.
The source stressed that “the subsidy committee stems from a clear and consistent governmental direction, which is to help the citizen to live a decent life, protect him from any fluctuations in prices that affect his livelihood and provide his requirements easily, especially at the level of providing food and basic supplies, as well as the needs of building residential plots away from any Contingent costs arising from conditions relating to labor and construction materials.
The source stated that the state can currently support the production of fuel according to the differences from the value of its price in the global market, and there is no need to think about increasing its prices, but rather to maintain the current prices, as they are appropriate according to adequate studies conducted by government technical committees specialized in the oil sector and the Ministry of Finance.
