The current parliament, elected in December 2012, was dissolved by the constitutional court on 16 June, and new parliamentary elections are scheduled for 27 July. The 2012-13 budget was also delayed in a similar manner. In the absence of a sitting parliament, the Ministry of Finance has requested the Council of Ministers to issue the new budget by decree.
The 2013-14 budget projects a 30% increase in revenue to KD18.1bn ($63.48bn) and a slight fall of 1.1% in total expenditure to KD21bn ($73.65bn; see table 1). The resulting deficit is estimated at KD2.9bn ($10.17bn), but after allocation of the mandatory 25% of total revenue, or KD4.5bn ($15.78bn), to the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG), the deficit rises to KD7.4bn ($25.95bn). The annual transfer to the RFFG, which was set at 10% for many years, was raised to 25% last year (MEES, 21 September 2012). The deficit after allocation to the RFFG in the 2013-14 budget is projected to fall by 31% from the previous year’s budget, thanks to higher estimates of oil revenue (up 32%) and a slight decline in total expenditure. (CONTINUED - 985 WORDS)
