KUWAIT CITY, June 30: Kuwait’s Parliament passed on Wednesday the 2010/2011 budget, which envisages raising spending by 33.5 percent and projects a shortfall of $22.7 billion.
Thirty-nine members, including the 16 cabinet ministers, voted in favour, 21 against and one abstained.
Revenues are estimated at $33.5 billion, up from last year’s $28.1 billion. 88.7 percent of that, or $29.7 billion, is projected to come from oil, the main source of income in the Gulf state.

Spending is projected at $56.2 billion, a 33.5 percent rise from last year’s estimates of $42.1 billion. Most of the increase focused on capital spending to accelerate development that has been hampered by political feuds.
Oil income in the current fiscal year was calculated at a conservative price of $43 a barrel, up from last year’s 35, and production of 2.2 million barrels in line with OPEC quotas.
In the previous year, Kuwait projected a deficit of $14 billion but official figures show it posted a preliminary surplus of $28 billion.

During the two-day debate on the budget, a large number of MPs criticised the government for failure to diversify the economy which remains heavily dependent on oil.
“We are a state that sells oil to pay salaries of employees,” said liberal MP Marzouk Al-Ghanem. “Our chronic problem of depending on oil for 90 percent of our income remains unresolved.”
MP Rola Dashti warned of dangers in failing to diversify the economy and boost non-oil revenues.
“If we continue this way, the country could go bankrupt,” she said. “Today, we need a fundamental solution.”
Around $25 billion of the projected expenditure are allocated to pay salaries of employees at government and semi-government institutions.
About $15 billion are projected for various types of subsidies, which guarantee low prices for fuel to power plants, petrol and other essential commodities.
Defence spending accounts for 8.5 percent of the budget or $4.8 billion.
Spending on construction projects was boosted from 4.4 billion dollars in last year’s budget to $7.3 billion in 2010/2011.
About $3.8 dollars of spending is a one-off payment for the government pension agency to meet part of its deficit.
Under Kuwaiti law, 10 percent of revenues are deducted every year in favour of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, whose assets are estimated at around $277 billion.
Returns on the fund are not included in the budget.
The fiscal year began on April 1. Traditionally in Kuwait, the budget is passed three months after the fiscal year starts.
Kuwait has projected a deficit in each of the past 11 fiscal years, but has ended all of them in the black, accumulating more than $140 billion of surpluses.
Kuwait claims it holds 10 percent of global crude reserves and is pumping around 2.2 million barrels per day.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect the country to book a fiscal surplus of 18.6 percent of gross domestic product when the current fiscal year ends, much larger than any of its fellow Gulf oil exporters.
During the session, the lawmakers also urged the Cabinet to improve services and infrastructure. They criticized the Cabinet for granting millions of dinars to support other countries, asserting the citizens are more deserving of such support.
“It is illogical for a country like Kuwait to produce and sell crude oil for $70 a barrel, while purchasing other oil products for $700 a barrel. It should manufacture these oil products and make the best out of its oil sources, but this requires good planning and an efficient Cabinet, which we don’t have,” said one of the lawmakers.
On increasing the salaries of government employees, a number of parliamentarians argued this is an added burden on the public coffers and discourages citizens from working in the private sector.
MP Dashti also contended it is not practical to continue increasing the salaries of government employees as this move might lead the country towards bankruptcy. “We need to produce one million barrels of oil a day to cover salaries, compared to only 350,000 barrels10 years ago,” she asserted.
Commenting on the same issue, lawmaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the budget allocated for salaries this year amounted to KD 7.2 billion, compared to only KD 2.2 billion in the past. “We have become a country which sells oil only to pay the salaries of workers,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the Budgets and Final Audit Committee rejected the Cabinet’s request to add KD 260 million to the budget to cover supplementary expenses. Members of the panel claimed the Cabinet does not allow evaluation of these expenses, while Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamalli affirmed the requested amount is for emergencies like the spread of bird or swine flu.
Voting
Following is the breakdown of votes on the budget:
Name    Yes    No    ——
Ahmed Al-Haroun    ——       
Ahmed Al-Sadoun        ——   
Ahmed Al-Abdullah S    ——       
Ahmed Al-Fahad S    ——       
Aseel Al-Awadhi        ——   
Al-Saifi Al-Saifi        ——   
Badr Al-Shorayan    ——       
Jaber Al-Khaled S    ——       
Jaber Al-Mubarak S    ——       
Jassem Al-Khorafi    ——       
Jamaan Al-Harbash        ——   
Hassan Al-Jowhar        ——   
Hussein Al-Qallaf           
Hussein Mizyad    ——       
Hussein Al-Huraiti    ——       
Khaled Al-Adwa    ——       
Khaled Sultan             ——
Khaled Al-Tahous        ——   
Khalaf Dumaitheer    ——       
Delaihi Al-Hajeri    ——       
Rashed Al-Hamad    ——       
Rowdhan Al-Rowdhan    ——       
Rola Dashti    ——       
Salem Nemlan    ——       
Saad Zenaifer    ——       
Saad Al-Khanfour    ——       
Sadoun Al-Otaibi    ——       
Salwa Al-Jassar    ——       
Showaib Al-Mowezre    ——       
Saleh Ashour    ——       
Saleh Al-Mulla        ——   
Daifallah Buramiya        ——   
Adel Al-Sarawi        ——   
Abdelrahman Al-Anjeri        ——   
Abdellah Al-Roumi           
Adnaan Al-Mutawa    ——       
Adnaan Abdelsamad        ——   
Askar Al-Enezi    ——       
Ali Al-Dekbasi        ——   
Ali Al-Omair        ——   
Ali Al-Rashed    ——       
Ghanem Al-Mae           
Fadhel Safar    ——       
Falah Al-Sawagh        ——   
Faisal Al-Dowaisan    ——       
Faisal Al-Muslim           
Mubarak Al-Khurainij    ——       
Mubarak Al-Walaan        ——   
Moh’d Al-Mutair        ——   
Moh’d Sabah Al-Salem    ——       
Moh’d Al-Busairi    ——       
Moh’d Al-Afasi    ——       
Moh’d Al-Howaila     ——       
Moh’d Al-Mutairi        ——   
Mikhled Al-Azmi    ——       
Marzouq Al-Ghanem        ——   
Musallam Al-Barrack        ——   
Mustafa Al-Shimmali    ——       
Massouma Al-Mubarak    ——       
Moudhi Al-Humoud    ——       
Naji Al-Abdelhadi        ——   
Nasser Al-Mohammed    ——       
Hilal Al-Sayer    ——       
Waleed Al-Tabtabaei        ——   
Youssef Al-Zilzilah    ——       
Results         61    39    21    1