(MENAFN) Kuwait's non-oil real growth is forecasted to register an increase to 5.6 percent in the 2015-2016 period, as implementation of the government's development projects maintains its strong pace and due to the capital spending on the sector, KUNA reported.
This growth is supported by the implementation of the government's development plan, which is expected to pick even more momentum in the FY 2015/16 due to the government recently presenting its second five-year plan to cover the period from FY15/16 through FY19/20, with the plan targeting an investment of about USD40.35 billion a year in the next five-year period, while projecting a non-oil growth of around 10 percent annually, though growth is more likely to average around 6-8 percent.
The growth would also be helped through the recent awarded, which include KNPC's clean fuels project, which is expected to cost USD15.72 billion and expected to help the country in boosting its oil refining capacity by 2018, and the first phase of the Al-Zour North IWPP, marking Kuwait's first private investment in the country's power and water sector in recent history, with promises that it will help start the "public-private partnership" (PPP) model that Kuwait has been promoting.
Despite these resent projects, the country's investment levels have registered a historic low in recent years when compared to GDP, with total investments averaging 13.5 percent of GDP between 2011 and 2013, though the new development plan aims at increasing this ratio to reach 18 percent in the next five years.
Kuwait has maintained a budget surplus throughout the last 15 fiscal years, with an average surplus of 21 percent of GDP, including the latest fiscal year ending in March 2014 which achieved a surplus of 26 percent of GDP despite healthy spending growth that topped 11 percent over the last 14 years.
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