Kuwait City: Kuwait’s Minister of Finance, Khalifa Hamada, has submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister, Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah, local media reported.
Sources stated, according to the daily, that Hamada’s resignation, if accepted, will lead to a cabinet reshuffle with around three to five ministers changing.
His announcement came two days after the Cabinet announced that they will be putting in place measures aimed at reducing government expenditures.
Part of the proposed plan is to cut subsidies (known as Dam Al Amala in Arabic) for employees in the private sector earning 3,000 Kuwaiti dinars or more. The decision was highly debated across Kuwait, with some stating that the move will drive more people away towards the public sector and weaken the already frail private sector. More than 70 per cent of Kuwaitis work government jobs, as the pay is usually higher, shorter working hours and they are not able to be fired.
Kuwait is already witnessing a liquidity crunch, with oil prices dropping and the steep increase in government spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Kuwait recorded a 10.8 billion Kuwaiti dinar deficit, the highest to date.
