OPEC member Kuwait spent only around 10 percent on public projects in the first half of its 2023-2024 fiscal year due to red-tape in government offices and other factors, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The government has allocated around 1.02 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($3.36 billion) in its 2023-2024 budget, which went into effect on April 1, but only around 108 million dinars ($356 million) was spent in the first half of the fiscal year, the Arabic language daily Alqabas said, citing a government report.

The report showed only 5 out of 130 approved projects have been completed while 60 others are under way, adding that 52 projects are being prepared for execution and 13 others are still awaiting a decision.

“There are fears that what happened last year could be repeated this year as only around 50 percent of the approved project funds were spent in 2022-2023,” the report said, adding that this year’s projects include Kuwait Airport expansion.

According to the report, there are several reasons for the project slowdown, including delayed contractual procedures and late approval of projects by some authorities.

“There are also legal challenges…several projects require special decisions or modification of existing rules in order to be started,” it added.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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