Challenges lie ahead as Kuwait forms new govt, Parliament

Kuwait City, Dec 22 : Kuwait faces political and economic challenges after it formed a new Parliament and government for the first time during the reign of Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah since he took office in September.
Kuwaiti experts agreed that the country will face significant challenges such as income diversification, budget deficit, adjusting population structure, and cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities during the next stage, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The Kuwaiti economy which is based on oil faces a deficit up to $46 billion this year, and it is expected that the government may pass the public debt law that would allow it to borrow 20 billion Kuwaiti dinars (about $65 billion) over 30 years, while the law was rejected by the previous Parliament.
“The Kuwaiti government will not be able in a short period to address the financial deficit, except through the rise in oil prices in global markets,” Hajjaj Bukhadour, a retired economist who had worked as a consultant in several companies, said in a recent interview.
The government will have no other option, where the parliament can keep rejecting any attempts aiming at raising fees and adopting taxes, but if oil prices did not rise, the deficit will increase and the necessity of approving public debt law will increase, he added.
He pointed out that the political challenges require cooperation, however, some members of the parliament are expected to present several parliamentary interrogations during the next stage, which will hinder reform effort.