Public sector employees salaries to be paid on August 16 ahead of Eid

Center for women's skills development 100% complete

KUWAIT: The finance ministry said August salaries for public sector employees will be deposited on August 16th on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In other news, Head of the Fatwa and Legislation Department Salah Al-Musad banned workers at the department - be they employees, advisors or lawyers - from having any accounts on websites or social media with the term "fatwa" directly or indirectly. The ban includes publishing any political opinions or information related to the department or cases they work on. He said those in violation will be disciplined.

Women's skills

The center for the development of Kuwaiti women's economic and crafts skills is 100 percent complete, sources said, adding that the KD 1.2 million project will be operational by the end of this year. The project aims at supporting Kuwait women. The center also aims at improving the relative ranking of Kuwait in marketplace performance and readiness of manpower indicators from 43 percent/63 percent in 2015/2016 to 46 percent/66 percent at the end of the development plan, and limit problems of marginal labor.

Rising debt

The State Audit Bureau advised against borrowing to finance the budget deficit, and instead resort to capital projects with a long-term strategy to deal with the risks of rising public debt. The bureau said in a report on high risk topics that it is necessary to account for real estate assets of the government and comply with the law to reveal commissions when signing any contracts related to public debts. The report said violations reached KD 5.8 billion at the end of 2016/2017, and due to non-settlements, the budget deficit rose from KD 5.9 billion to KD 6.8 billion during the abovementioned year.

Hajj costs

Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Ministry Undersecretary Fareed Emadi said the ministry has taken several measures against the high cost of hajj campaigns that helped in reducing prices. He said not all trips are expensive, as prices are considered lower compared to last year, while 14 campaigns have rates of less than KD 2,000. Although Saudi Arabia increased charges by 10 percent, the awqaf ministry will take measures to reduce prices for next year. He said the current rise in prices is due to services extended during the pilgrims' stay in Saudi Arabia.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi and A Saleh