KUWAIT: Eager to overcome the economic mishap caused by the low oil prices, Kuwait has taken some essential steps last March to diversify the country’s sources of income.
The financial and economic reform document, approved by the Kuwaiti government three months ago, focused on boosting non-oil revenues and reducing public spending, steps which aimed at achieving a balanced national economy.
The six-point document also focused on reforming the financial sector, redefining the state’s involvement in the national economy, boosting the public sector’s economic role, enabling citizens to kick start their own businesses, as well as encouraging the legislative and executive powers to enhance economic and financial policies.
The document also aimed at enabling the government to boost its efforts for administrative and institutional reforms which will in turn attract more foreign investments to Kuwait. When submitting the document to the cabinet back in March, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Acting Oil Minister Anas Al-Saleh said that the document would allow people to own privatized projects at a rate of 40 percent and public-private sector joint ventures at a rate of 50 percent within 2016-19.
It aims at reforming the labor market and civil service system with a view to ensure justice among workers to improve job performance and boost the public sector’s efficiency by linking pay to production, said the minister. Minister Saleh was assigned by the cabinet to follow up on the implementation of the document. — KUNA
