KUWAIT: Kuwait posted a budget surplus of KD 150.4 million in the first half of the 2024/2025 fiscal year, compared to a deficit of KD 1.45 billion in the first six months of last fiscal year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. The return to windfall was the result of a combined increase in revenues and a drop in spending, the ministry figures showed.

Revenues realized in the first six months from April 1 to September 30 were up 15.6 percent to KD 10.1 percent, compared to just KD 8.75 billion, the figures showed. Spending and commitments in the first six months of the fiscal year dropped 2.4 percent to KD 9.97 percent compared to KD 10.2 billion in the same period of the past fiscal year. The budget for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, projected revenues at KD 18.9 billion and spending at KD 24.6 billion, with an estimated budget deficit of KD 5.7 billion.

Oil income, which makes up the majority of public revenues, rose around 12 percent to KD 8.88 billion at the end of September compared to KD 7.95 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Non-oil revenues jumped 53 percent to KD 1.23 billion from KD 806 million, mainly due to the doubling of revenues from commodities and services to KD 908 million, the ministry figures showed. In the fiscal year 2022/2023, Kuwait posted a huge surplus of KD 6.5 billion because oil prices were much higher than estimated in the budget. In the past year, it returned to a shortfall, posting a deficit of KD 1.56 billion, according to the ministry of finance.