Kuwait has now formally put a price tag of KD45.5bn ($155bn) on capital expenditure envisaged under its 2015-20 development plan which is due to start in the new fiscal year on 1 April. Capital spending under the plan will be based on an oil price of $45/B, well below the budget oil price of $75/B in the current fiscal year, Muhammad al-Jabri, of the Kuwaiti parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee, said on 11 January. The 2015-16 budget is also likely to be based on $45/B, according to Oil Minister ‘Ali al-‘Umair.
The plan was discussed at a meeting of the committee and the Minister of Planning and Development Hind al-Subaih and is due to be shortly presented to parliament for ratification in the next few weeks. Mr Jabri said that the government has assured the committee that spending on development projects “will not be affected by the sharp slump in oil prices,” which saw the price of Kuwait crude fall to just over $40/B from more than $110/B in June. Ms Subaih also stressed that the fall in oil prices would not affect the plan’s financing, as half of it is to come from Kuwaiti private sector, through public-private partnerships. (CONTINUED - 460 WORDS)
