KUWAIT: An $8.7 billion deal for Kuwait to purchase 28 Eurofighters from Italy has been put on hold for "procedural” reasons, an unnamed Italian Defense official told Defense News website. According to the report published this week, the contract which was based on a memorandum of understanding signed in September of last year, was supposed to be signed on Sunday.
But the signing didn’t happen due to "internal procedural problems” in Kuwait. Kuwait had agreed to buy 22 single-seat and six twin-seat Typhoons in an agreement with the Italian government, with Kuwait pilots trained by Italy. Kuwait’s Finance Ministry has warned of a sizable deficit for the fiscal year starting April 1. The shortfall for the 2016-17 fiscal year is estimated at KD 11.5 billion due to a sharp decline in oil revenues. It’s unclear, however, if this deficit will include the transfer of funds to the Future Generations Fund. Kuwait bases its budget on oil revenues and does not include returns on investments held in the country’s sovereign wealth fund.