KUWAIT CITY, Dec 21: Minister of Finance and Acting State Minister for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel has denied the report published by a local newspaper about the alleged plan to trim down expatriate employees in the private sector to 150,000, reports Al-Jaridah daily quoting the response of Al-Aqeel to a parliamentary question submitted by MP Muhammad Al-Dallal.

Al-Aqeel said the policy adopted by the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) on increasing the number of Kuwaiti employees in the private sector is based on Supporting National Employees Law number 19/2000.

She cited Article Nine of the law which authorizes the Cabinet to specify the percentage of Kuwaiti employees in private establishments, affirming that the Cabinet’s decision is in accordance with the results of a study conducted by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in this regard. She explained the percentage is updated every two years; indicating the percentage must be based on comprehensive studies on the demands of the market, educational output and results of surveys carried out in collaboration with private institutions