KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: According to informed sources, the state budget deficit for the 2021/2022 fiscal year is expected to decline to KD 2 billion due to the ongoing recovery of oil prices, which exceeded the USD 90 barrier to reach USD 91.49 per barrel. There are expectations that the oil prices will reach USD 100 barrier as demand for oil continues to rise, reports Al-Nahar daily.

They explained that the demand is increasing because the world is recovering from the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actual expenses of many items in the state’s general budget have reduced, which contributed to enhancing non-oil revenues within the budget items. With the decline of the budget deficit to hit the barrier of KD two billion, it may further fall to reach the range of KD 10 billion, which will reflect positively on the pace of completion of development projects that were postponed due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Considering the end of the state’s general budget in the coming 50 days, and with the continuation of the government’s serious steps aimed at reducing expenditures and rationalizing waste, government agencies aim to compress the budget deficit to reach a deficit of only two billion, which is a decrease of 10 billion from the budget estimate that had exceeded the barrier of KD 12 billion. The sources indicated that Kuwait relies on oil revenues to cover the current fiscal year of 2021/2022, achieving revenues of about KD 16.7 billion, compared to the levels of prices estimated in the current budget with an annual increase of 15.3 percent