No to Expat-Kuwaiti petrol price differential

KUWAIT CITY: The government does not intend to approve two petrol prices – one for citizens and the other for expatriates, calling it unconstitutional and in violation of Article 29 of the Constitution and international norms, reports Al-Anba daily quoting government sources.

In response to a question on how to support the price of gasoline for the citizen, the constitutional sources replied: The legal mechanism to provide support to citizens in the case of gasoline can be done through support indirectly. On a parliamentary warning to the government to increase gasoline prices during the parliamentary holiday period, as was the decision to increase the tariff in September 2016, informed sources told the daily the government is keen to stabilize the market and has not implemented a recommendation to liberalize gasoline prices so far.

The sources said that although the decision of the Council of Ministers, which provided for the rationalization of gasoline tariffs, came at the recommendation of the Ministerial Committee on Economic Affairs, on the proposal of the Committee to re-study the various types of subsidies provided by the State ensure that the prices are reviewed every three months.

However, this part has not been implemented and still remains frozen for 3 years now, and prices have not been liberalized in order to stabilize the market. The sources confirmed that there has been no change in the price of gasoline since it was decided to rationalize it in September 2016, although the prices in Kuwait is the lowest compared to the other Gulf States. The demand for a tariff reduction can also not be met for several reasons, the most important of which is that the cost of a liter of gasoline is still higher than the consumer’s tariff.