KUWAIT: The Audit Bureau’s work between April 1 and November 30 resulted in saving KD 25 million ($80.9 million) for the state treasury. Sara Al-Hajeri, an auditor tasked with advance examination of allocations for affiliated and independent departments, said in a statement that the bureau presented remarks on 2,455 topics envisaging state spending in some sectors, with a total of KD 3.27 billion ($10.6 billion).

Up to 84 percent of the pondered cases concerned ministries and government departments, with a total value of KD 3 billion (approximately $9.7 billion). Health cases were the highest, amounting to 1,062 with a value estimated at KD 1 billion, Al-Hajeri said, adding that the bureau either approved or renewed approval for 1,415 cases, valued at some KD 2.2 billion ($7.1 billion). Al-Hajeri added that the Diwan turned back 768 cases with a total value of KD 458 million ($1.4 billion) because there was no adherence to the terms set by the office. Up to 73 others were turned down, valued at some KD 520 million ($1.6 billion).

Oil prices are down

Meanwhile, the price of Kuwaiti crude oil dropped by $3.27 to $80.85 per barrel on Monday as opposed to $84.12 per barrel last Friday, said the Kuwaiti Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Tuesday. The Brent crude and the West Texas Intermediate in the global markets went down each by 85 cents and $1.03, settling at $78.03 per barrel and $73.04 per barrel, respectively.

Meanwhile, the price of the US dollar rose against the Kuwaiti dinar on Tuesday by five percent to KD 0.308, while the euro was stable at KD 0.334 compared to Monday’s rates, said a Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) statement on Tuesday. The CBK indicated in its daily bulletin that the Pound Sterling’s exchange rate went down by 0.24 percent to KD 0.389, while the Swiss Franc was stable at KD 0.353 and the Japanese Yin at KD 0.002. — KUNA