Kuwait has ample reserves that ensure the country’s strong financial position, says the rapporteur of parliament’s budget committee MP Riyadh Al-Adasani.
The rapporteur was responding to warnings by current and former officials, including former finance minister Bader Al-Humaidi, who claimed that a financial crisis would erupt unless the government rationalized its spending, as the state’s reserves had dwindled to KD7 billion.
Pointing out that the reserves were “far higher” than the quoted figure, Al-Adasani added that following efforts by the budget’s committee, the government had transferred KD8.4 billion to the state reserve fund. He also clarified that the expected deficit of the Public Institution for Social Security is KD17.4 billion and not KD19 billion as stated by others. The most important aspect to consider here, said AlAdasani, is that it is a projected deficit for the future, and not the actual current deficit.
Though the country has huge assets, it must be managed in the best way possible, said the lawmaker while adding the government must tackle problems related to distortions in the state budget and final accounts.
He also warned that his plans to grill the prime minister and the finance minister would go ahead unless the government appeals against the prosecution’s decision to shelve the investigation into suspected money laundering cases in which current and former MPs are involved. He said the government pledged to file the petition but so far nothing has been done.
In other news from lawmakers, MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaei said he had put off plans to grill the minister of social affairs and labor over the ministry’s decision to suspend social aid to thousands of Kuwaiti women.
Subaei, however, said yesterday that ministry officials informed him that only 1,130 women were affected, as they had failed to update their files by bringing certificates from various ministries to prove they were in need. He added the officials informed him that the women are no longer required to bring such certificates personally, as the ministry has already written to other government bodies and the update is expected to be completed within a week’s time.
The ministry of social affairs pays out a KD280 million every year as social aid to over 44,000 citizens.