The value of projects awarded by Kuwait tumbled by nearly 81 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 due to the spread of Coronavirus and austerity measures taken by the government, local press reported on Sunday. 

From around 588 million Kuwaiti dinars ($1.94 billion) in the second quarter of 2019, the value of awarded public projects dipped to nearly 110 million dinars ($363 million) in the second quarter of 2020, according to a report published by Al-Rai newspaper. 

Kuwait, which controls the world's 6th largest proven oil deposits, has decided to slash spending on projects in oil, construction and other sectors because of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that also triggered a general lockdown in the second quarter. 

On a sixth-monthly basis, the value of awarded projects nearly doubled to 693 million dinars ($3.06 billion) in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. 

However, the figure remains just below a quarter of the total government project allocations of about 3 billion dinars ($9.9 billion) for 2020, according to the report, which said it would be difficult to achieve that target due to the pandemic and austerity measures. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon and Bhaskar Raj)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

#Kuwait #Oilandgas #Construction #Coronavirus

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