Govt development capital spending up despite ‘deficit’ in last fiscal year

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KD 20.5bln capital expenditure during last ten years

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29: The increase in government development capital spending during the last fiscal year was 6%, despite the liquidity crisis that the country faced difficulties due to the drop in oil prices, which prompted it to take many austerity and rationalization measures in many items of the general budget, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Figures seen by the daily showed that the total capital expenditure in the budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022 was about 1.86 billion dinars, compared to 1.74 billion dinars that was directed to capital spending in the previous fiscal year, which is an economically commendable matter and confirms the keenness to continue development plans and develop mega projects in the country although the fiscal deficit recorded in the 2021-2022 budget amounted to 2.9 billion dinars, a 269% decrease from the 10.7 billion dinars achieved in 2020-2021.

Expenditure
According to a special statistic prepared by Al-Qabas, the total capital expenditure during the last ten years from 2012-2013 to 2021-2022 was about 20.5 billion dinars, which were allocated from the general budget expenditures, whose total revenues during the mentioned period amounted to about 174.8 billion dinars, after deducting the share of the Future Generations Fund of 26.2 billion dinars.

Moreover, the sources expected that the government would speed up the pace of awarding development projects in the country during the coming period in cooperation with the private sector. It would contribute to accelerating the implementation of these projects on the one hand and relieving pressure on the public budget on the other.

The sources pointed out that the trend towards accelerating the pace of development projects in cooperation with the private sector was recently evident through government orientations to involve the private sector in the process of implementing a number of development projects, including investment in the Jaber Bridge Islands and waterfront development projects in Jahra, Sulaibikhat and other areas, as well as the major entertainment projects to be implemented in the coming period. Involving the private sector in the implementation of major development projects in various sectors, the sources said, would create a competitive investment environment in addition to maximizing the country’s GDP as well as contributing to increasing the number of citizens working in the private sector, as the percentage of Kuwaitis employment in the implementation of new projects will be determined in conjunction with plans to streamline the government sector by merging bodies and entities with similar roles and to increase the productivity of the government sector.

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