Kuwait To Spend $17.5bn On Projects In 2013/14 – Finance Minister

Kuwait plans to spend KD4.5 billion to KD5 billion ($15.8-17.5 billion) on development projects in the 2013/14 fiscal year which began this month, Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali said on Monday.

Domestic political tensions have been delaying work on parts of a KD30 billion infrastructure building and economic development plan announced by the Gulf Arab country in late 2010.

The group chief executive officer of National Bank of Kuwait has been scathing in recent months about the impact of the political situation on economic growth, a rare public outburst from a prominent Gulf businessman.

However, there have been signs that the government has found ways to move ahead with some projects.

Kuwait had a budget surplus of KD17.2 billion in the first ten months of its fiscal year, preliminary budget data showed at the end of March, thanks to robust oil income and lower-than-expected public spending.

Shamali also told reporters on the sidelines of a financial conference in Kuwait that the OPEC member’s economy should grow by 4.5 to five per cent this year. He did not give more details.