Funds scarce for COVID-19 front-liners

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22 : “There isn’t enough liquidity to disburse rewards to the COVID-19 front-liners at once”, reports Al-Rai daily quoting reliable sources as saying. They explained that the Ministry of Finance has not yet set aside a specific financial budget to pay the dues, which amount to about KD 550 million, especially since the volume of the available liquidity in the public reserve is currently close to one billion dinars.

However, the total salaries and the likes amount to KD 750 million per month. The ministry plans to start disbursing directly to the eligible parties in various stages as soon as all the lists from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) are approved, according to the levels of available liquidity. Public finances have long faced the risk of running out of liquidity. The Public Reserve Fund recorded the highest risk of running out of liquidity last December after the liquidity available in it reached KD 300 million.

The delay in disbursement is mainly due to the delay in the ministry receiving the lists of beneficiaries, as it has so far received the lists of 29 out of 62 parties. The beneficiaries of the Ministry of Health will be at the forefront of the entities that will receive the reward, as a moral condition for the launch of the exchange train, as they are the most deserving. The disbursement will be in stages and according to priority, such that the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense will follow the Ministry of Health, and then other institutions.

The sources said, “What increases the collective spending challenge is that the coverage of these amounts is not scheduled in the general budget, but an additional appropriation has been opened for them, amounting to KD 600 million, as installments, based on the hierarchy of receipt of lists from government agencies and to relieve pressure on the public budget”.

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