KUWAIT: Kuwait had a budget surplus of KD17.2bn ($60.5bn) in the first ten months of its fiscal year, preliminary budget data showed yesterday, thanks to robust oil income and lower-than-expected public spending.
The government spent KD9.8bn in the 10 months to the end of January, less than half of the KD21.2bn originally earmarked for the period, a report posted on the Finance Ministry’s website showed.
Income was KD27bn, much higher than the KD13.9bn which had been predicted. Oil revenues were KD25.5bn, or 94 percent of the income, the data showed.
The 10-month surplus is equivalent to around 39 percent of the Gulf state’s 2011 gross domestic product, according to a Reuters calculation based on the latest official data. A poll in September forecast that Kuwait would record a budget surplus of 25 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2012/13, which began in April. The cabinet approved a revised budget for the current fiscal year in October.
Reuters
