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An expected increase in oil export earnings will slash Kuwait’s 2024-2025 budget deficit to less than a third, according to a Kuwaiti thank-tank.
The OPEC producer had projected a shortfall of around 5.9 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($19.5 billion) during the current fiscal year, which started on April 1.
But high-than-expected oil revenues could reduce the actual deficit to around KWD1.4 billion ($4.65 billion), Al-Shal Centre said in a weekend report.
It forecast Kuwait’s oil income at nearly KWD20.7 billion ($68.3 billion) during 2024-2025, way higher than the previous year’s income of KWD16.23 billion ($53.5 billion).
Total revenues, including non-oil export earnings, could climb to nearly KWD23.14 billion ($76.36 billion), the report said.
“With spending projected at KWD24.55 billion ($81.01 billion), the deficit could be around KWD1.4 billion but this will depend on whether oil prices remain high,” it said.
Read more: High oil prices to slash Kuwait’s budget gap: report
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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