KUWAIT: Kuwait's government is studying the possibility of splitting the Ministry of Finance into two separate ministries, with one of them dedicated to the investment sector, Al-Rai reported yesterday. "The government is contemplating splitting the finance ministry, be it at the department level or the budget, in a way that allows the separation of the investment sectors from others such as auditing and budgets," the daily wrote yesterday.

Informed sources quoted in the report said this move comes as part of efforts to take investment and economic decisions away from traditional establishments, similar to steps taken by other countries such as Saudi Arabia, which established an office to take the responsibility of preparing the state budget instead of the finance ministry.

The sources said preliminary ideas in this regard are to separate the investment sector into an independent ministry that will include the investment bodies that manage state finances, headed by the Public Institution for Social Security, Kuwait Investment Authority, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority, Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, Kuwait Privatization Agency, Central Bank of Kuwait and others, adding that KIA board member Fahad Al-Rashed will most probably be the minister.

They said that the second ministry will include traditional departments and sectors such as budget preparation, taxes, reclamation, Public Authority for Assessment of Compensation and the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development.