Kuwait: Kuwait's parliament approved a government development plan that calls for 30 billion dinars (Dh381.68 billion) of spending over four years.
Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahd Al Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, told parliament Tuesday that the government plans to earmark about 4.5 billion dinars of the total amount for spending in the next fiscal year, which begins in April.
Another 2.5 billion dinars will be contributed by companies, he said.
The development plan includes investments to boost oil and gas production and build a railway network, new cities, and a port on Boubyan Island.
It may lift overall government spending next year to as much as 15 billion dinars, Finance Minister Mustafa Al Shimali said last month.
The cost of the plan was reduced from 37 billion dinars because it was originally intended to run over five fiscal years and not four, Shaikh Ahmad said.
Kuwait is the fifth-biggest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and pumped 2.26 million barrels of oil a day in January, according to Bloomberg data.
The country, which expects to spend 12.1 billion dinars in the current fiscal year, posted a budget surplus of 2.74 billion dinars last year as it benefited from higher oil sales.
