(MENAFN) Kuwait's government announced it is planning to spend USD155 billion on projects over the next five years despite the plunge in world oil prices, with the spending expected to cover 523 key projects in a five-year development plan starting in the fiscal year which begins on April 1, Gulf News reported.
The government also asserted its previous comments by saying that the sharp drop in oil revenues would not affect the projects of Kuwait due to the country having a massive sovereign wealth fund and making previous mega investments.
Meanwhile the government said that the oil revenues, which makes up around 94 percent of the country's public revenues, in the new budget from April will be calculated on the basis of USD45 a barrel, declining from USD75 a barrel in the current fiscal year
The government said that it has been considering different methods to deal with the plunge in global oil prices, including cutting spending particularly subsidies since they constitutes over 85 percent of total expenditures, after already deciding to cut subsidies on diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel as a first step in revising heavily-subsidized electricity, water and petrol, though they maintained that they will not reduce capital spending on projects.
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