The monthly report of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance showed that Kuwait's budget recorded a deficit of 1.089 billion dinars (3.57 billion dollars) during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020-2021, due to the effects of the Coronavirus and the decline in oil prices, the main source of more than 90 percent of government revenues. While the budget recorded a surplus of 1.322 billion dinars (4.33 billion dollars) in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The recorded deficit comes despite the fact that the Al-Ajyal Reserve Fund's share, estimated at 10 percent, was not deducted from government revenues, compared to 490 million dinars ($1.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2019-2020.
Revenues decreased by 72 percent on an annual basis during the three-month period at the end of last June to 1.37 billion dinars (4.49 billion dollars), compared to 4.9 billion dinars (16 billion dollars) in the comparative period last year. The data showed a decrease in oil revenues by 71 percent to 1.32 billion dinars (4.32 billion dollars), from 4.56 billion dinars (14.94 billion dollars) during the same period of the previous year.
In terms of expenditures, it decreased by 20.7 percent to 2.45 billion dinars (8.03 billion dollars), compared to 3.1 billion dinars (10.16 billion dollars) during the comparison period.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
