Projects awarded by Kuwait to local companies jumped by nearly 47 percent in value in the first half of 2021 and the oil and construction sectors were the main beneficiaries, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday. 

From around 500 million Kuwaiti dinars ($1.65 billion) in the first half of 2020, the value of contracts awarded by the government to firms listed on Kuwait’s bourse soared to nearly 735 million dinars ($2.425 billion), the Arabic language daily Alanba said. 

Citing official data, the paper said the surge in the value of awarded deals was due to an increase in oil prices and lower effects of Coronavirus in the first half of 2021. 

Despite the rise in value, the number of awarded contracts declined from 39 to 32 in the same period, the report showed. 

State-owned Kuwait Oil Company awarded the largest value of projects of around 229 million ($755 million) in the first half of 2021, followed by the Public Works Ministry, which awarded contracts worth 94 million dinars ($310 million). 

The report showed awarded oil projects had the highest value of 230 million dinars ($759 million), followed by construction projects with a value of 121 million ($399 million), and services projects with a value of 37.3 million dinars ($123 million). 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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