KUWAIT, July 3 (KUNA):  Kuwait’s Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs Dr. Anwar Al-Mudhaf said the projected revenues in the state budget of FY 2024-2025 amount to KD 18.9 billion (nearly USD 61.6 billion), down by 2.8 percent from the figures of the last year.

The projected expenditure in the new fiscal year tops KD 24.5 billion (USD 79.9 billion), down by 6.6 percent from the last year, he said in an interview with Kuwait TV on Wednesday. The budget deficit is estimated at KD 5.6 billion (some USD 18.2 billion), Dr. Al-Mudhaf pointed out.

Regarding the state subsidy, he affirmed the need to give subsidies to individuals or companies that really need and deserve them. The appropriations for salaries and subsidies represent 78.8 percent of projected expenditure of the state budget, including KD 14 billion (USD 45.6 billion) for salaries and KD four billion (USD 13 billion) for subsidies, he went on.

 The minister asserted the importance of financial and economic reforms, saying that this issue is backed by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. On the efforts to diversify the sources of national income, he said overreliance on one source is one of the main weaknesses in the national economy, noting that “financial sustainability is of paramount importance to economic reforms.”

“The State of Kuwait has recorded a deficit of nearly KD 33 billion (USD 107.6 billion) in its final account in the last decade. “The gap had been bridged by finances from the state reserves,” he noted, estimating the deficit in the coming four year at KD 26 billion (USD 84.8 billion).