B Izzak | Kuwait Times Newspaper

B Izzak

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Kuwait posts KD 1.6bn deficit

KUWAIT: Kuwait public finances have returned to the red after posting a budget deficit of KD 1.6 billion in the fiscal year 2023/2024 which ended on March 31, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. The shortfall was posted as a result of a 19.4 percent drop in oil income to KD 21.5 billion over the previous fiscal year’s KD 26.7 billion, which led total revenues to slide by 17.9 percent to KD 23.6 billion, the ministry said in a statement...

KUWAIT: Finance Minister Dr Anwar Al-Mudhaf addresses a financial forum on July 14, 2024. - KUNA

Kuwait to raise service charges, cut subsidies, fix spending for 5 yrs

KUWAIT: The finance ministry said on Sunday that it plans to take serious measures to achieve “financial sustainability” that include raising charges for public services, reducing the huge bill of subsidies and placing a cap on public spending, in addition to reviewing employment and wages.In the first financial forum held by the ministry in the presence of representatives of government departments, the ministry said it plans to “reprice...

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Prices of 209 drugs slashed

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Ahmad Al-Awadhi issued a decision on Tuesday slashing the prices of 209 major drugs at private pharmacies by up to 60 percent following a review by a special committee. The decision will become effective three months after the publication of the decision in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm, giving the private health sector enough time to implement the price cuts, the health ministry said in a statement.The drugs...

Dr Anwar Al-Mudhaf

No wage cuts despite deficits

KUWAIT: Finance Minister Dr Anwar Al-Mudhaf said the government will not cut wages of government employees despite persistent budget deficits, but warned the government may use assets to finance the shortfalls. “The pockets of the people will not be touched,” he said, in reference to wages. About 80 percent of Kuwaiti manpower of 450,000 is employed by the government and its establishments.In an interview on state-run Kuwait Television...

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Crackdown on visa violators

KUWAIT: A number of expats were arrested on Monday in the first day of a crackdown by the interior ministry on residency violators who failed to benefit from a three-month amnesty for illegals, the interior ministry said. The ministry did not specify how many people were arrested but said that they were referred to concerned authorities in preparation to be deported to their home countries.During the amnesty which ended on Sunday, thousands of...

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Top court upholds jail for convicts in 1MDB scandal

KUWAIT: The court of cassation, the top court in Kuwait, on Thursday upheld a 10 year-jail term on a sheikh and his Kuwaiti partner for taking part in the country’s largest ever money laundering case in the so-called Malaysian Fund.The court, whose rulings are final, also confirmed a 10-year jail sentence against two foreign accomplices, a French businessman of Syrian descent and a Malaysian businessman and financier who is the main defendant...

KUWAIT: Maj Gen Abdullah Al-Mulla, Maj Gen Hamad Al-Munaifi and senior security officials from the interior ministry hold a meeting on June 26, 2024. - KUNA photos

MoI gears up for end of amnesty

KUWAIT: Top security officials from the interior ministry held a meeting on Wednesday to coordinate major security and search campaigns against residency violators who have failed to avail a three-month amnesty for illegals which comes to an end on June 30, the interior ministry said. The meeting was chaired by assistant undersecretary for special forces affairs and the head of field campaigns against violators Maj Gen Abdullah Al-Mulla and...

KUWAIT: Minister of Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Bushehri visits the Al-Zour South power plant after a fire broke out in a unit on June 23, 2024.

Limited power cuts amid Zour fire

KUWAIT: The ministry of electricity and water and renewable energy resorted to limited power cuts on Sunday as temperatures dropped slightly to around 48 degrees Celsius, a statement said. The ministry said on its X account that a two-hour cut was applied to seven non-residential industrial and farming areas despite a small fire breaking out at a small unit at Al-Zour South power plant, which did not affect power production.Minister of...

KUWAIT: The sun sets behind overhead power lines amid soaring temperatures and heightened energy demand. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Kuwait faces power crunch

KUWAIT: The ministry of electricity and water and renewable energy resorted to programmed power cuts on Thursday for the second day running as government departments took a number of precautionary measures to save energy. The cuts on Thursday were limited to just five areas, mostly industrial, compared to over 40 residential areas on Wednesday, the ministry said on its X account. Earlier in the day, the ministry said that as many as 63 areas...

KOCHI, India: Relatives mourn around coffins containing the bodies of people who died in the Mangaf fire upon their arrival at Cochin International Airport on June 14, 2024. – AFP

8 detained over Mangaf fire amid bldg inspections

KUWAIT: The public prosecution on Wednesday ordered the detention for two weeks of eight people, a Kuwaiti, four Egyptians and three Indians for two weeks in connection with the Mangaf fire that killed 49 people, mostly Indians. The prosecution has interrogated the eight men on charges of manslaughter, wrongful injury and negligence in the building fire that also injured at least 49 others, some of whom have already been discharged.The fire, the...

KUWAIT: Policemen direct traffic at an intersection during a power outage on June 19, 2024. - Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Rolling power cuts hit Kuwait

KUWAIT: Massive power outages hit over 40 residential areas on Wednesday as temperatures soared to 52 degrees Celsius in most areas in the country, leading power consumption to rise close to the danger level and prompting authorities to resort to programmed cuts. The ministry of electricity and water and renewable energy said in a statement that the cuts were necessitated as power generation plants were unable to meet rising demand during peak...

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah and Minister of State for Municipality Affairs Noura Al-Mashaan inspect building violations. - Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and KUNA

Amir orders cash payments for families of Mangaf fire victims

Fire caused by short circuit • Landlords warned to remove discarded items KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ordered cash handouts for the families of the victims of a Mangaf building fire that killed 50 foreign workers and plunged relatives and friends into mourning. Forty-six of those who died in the fire were identified as Indian nationals. Three other deceased are Filipinos and the identity of one of the victims...

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