By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Head of the National Assembly's budgets committee MP Adnan Abdulsamad said the government still insists on passing legislation allowing it to borrow up to KD 20 billion, while most MPs are opposed to this and have offered alternatives. Abdulsamad was speaking following an expanded meeting by the committee, which also discussed measures by the government to rationalize spending and safeguard sovereign wealth funds, and proposed amendments to the budget and state reserve fund.

He said that a majority of MPs who are opposed to the debt law have offered a number of proposals to strengthen liquidity at the state reserve fund. These included suspending the annual 10 percent of revenue transfers to the future generation fund, because up to KD 12 billion has been transferred to the future generations fund, thus negatively impacting liquidity at the state reserve fund.

The government's debt law calls to allow the government to borrow up to KD 20 billion over the next 10 years to meet the rising budget deficit due to low oil prices. Other proposals call for transferring billions of dinars in profits held with various state establishments like Kuwait Petroleum Corp, Public Authority for Industry, ports and communications to the state reserve fund, he said.

Abdulsamad said other options include calling on the Central Bank to support the state reserve by KD 1.5 billion and ask the Kuwait fund to back the state reserves with 25 percent of its capital, as per the law. MPs also proposed the possibility that the future generations fund should buy certain assets held by the state reserve to boost its liquidity.

Other proposals called for delaying unnecessary projects, especially capital-intense projects being implemented by the Amiri Diwwan, in addition to delaying armament purchases. MPs also called on the government to retake some KD 3.75 billion paid to KPC to cover the cost of oil production, which can be delayed, Abdulsamad said.