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Kuwait's revenues touch lowest level this year as crude prices fall sharply
Country earns $4.6b in November compared with $12.9b in August but income still healthy.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:35 December 22, 2008
Kuwait City: Kuwait earned 1.255 billion dinars ($4.65 billion) in November, its lowest monthly income this year due to the sharp decline in oil prices, the finance ministry said.
The country's revenues have been declining since peaking at $12.9 billion in August as the price of Kuwaiti oil, which makes up 95 per cent of public income, dived to $35 a barrel from around $140 in July.
Nevertheless, the Gulf state still posted a healthy income of 17.7 billion dinars ($64.4 billions) in the first eight months of the 2008-09 fiscal year, up 40 per cent on the budget target for the year ending on March 31.
Oil revenues came in at 16.8 billion dinars ($61.2 billion), 44 per cent above budget projections of $42.4 billion based on a price of $50 a barrel.
Kuwait, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which says it sits on 10 per cent of global oil reserves, was pumping about 2.6 million barrels per day, but recent Opec cuts have reduced its output quota to around 2.2 million barrels per day.
Spending in the first eight months was 7.9 billion dinars ($28.7 billion), less than half of the 18.966 billion dinars ($69 billion) in budget outlays forecast for the entire year.
That leaves a preliminary budget surplus of 9.8 billion dinars ($35.7 billion) although the budget projects a massive full year deficit of $23.5 billion.
The surplus is expected to shrink considerably after accounting adjustments that include pledged spending which has not been registered so far.
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