Economy New Kuwait debt law could unlock billions for projects By Nadim Kawach February 17, 2025, 11:12 AM Alamy via Reuters Kuwait's new debt law will allow it to fund more projects but its budget remains largely reliant on oil revenue Kuwait’s last debt law ended in 2017 373 projects in draft budget Still reliant on oil revenue Kuwait is close to finalising long-moribund legislation around government borrowing that will allow it to take more debt and better finance infrastructure and other projects, its finance minister said. Speaking to local reporters on Sunday, Noura Al-Fassam said the borrowed money would be used in partnership with the private sector. “The debt law is now in its final stages. It will be an instrument that will help the country in developing infrastructure projects and support its capital expenditure,” Al-Fassam was quoted as saying by the official Kuwaiti news agency and other local media. A previous debt law expired nearly eight years ago and was not renewed because of rifts between the government and parliament around Opec member Kuwait’s heavy revenue reliance on volatile oil prices. That held up the development of projects. Kuwait plans new power projects to avert supply gap Kuwait successfully using drones to inspect oil facilities Kuwait approves plan to tackle project delays In the context of financing, Al-Fassam said 373 projects, with a combined value of around 12.8 billion dinars ($42.2 billion), are included in a draft 2025-2026 budget, some of which have already been started. That includes the development of a second terminal of Kuwait’s airport, and of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, slated to be one of the largest ports in the Middle East. The draft budget, which will become active on April 1, forecasts a deficit of about 6.3 billion dinars ($20.43 billion) and revenue of 18.23 billion dinars ($60.2 billion). Revenue from oil would count for the bulk, or 15.3 billion dinars, based on an average oil price of $68 a barrel. Kuwait’s debt law, which allows the government to borrow from local and international markets, including by selling bonds, expired in October 2017. According to Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper, there has been pressure on both legislative and executive authorities to renew the debt law to fund projects following a surge in spending over the past few years and sharp oil price fluctuations. The head of the parliamentary finance committee, Safaa Hashim, said parliament declined to renew the law after 2017 on the grounds that the government had no “clear reform plan to diversify sources of income.”
