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25-02-10

Kuwait posts $27.8b budget surplus in 10 months

(MENAFN) Kuwaiti finance ministry said that the Gulf country posted a preliminary budget surplus of $27.8 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year on higher oil income, AFP reported. The ministry said in a statement that revenues until the end of January reached $51 billion, 82 percent above the $28.1 billion projected for the whole 2009-2010 fiscal year, which ends on March 31. Spending during the 10 months was $23.2 billion, just 55.2 percent of projected spending for the whole year of $42.1 billion. The huge surplus is expected to be lower at the end of the fiscal year due to end-of-year accounting adjustments when pledged expenditure not included so far will be added to the closing statements. Oil income up to the end of January reached $48.2 billion or double the budget projections for the whole year of $24.1 billion. Oil revenues constituted 94.5 percent of total income. Kuwait has been projecting a deficit in each of the past 11 fiscal years because it calculates oil income at a highly conservative price. It has projected a deficit of close to $14 billion this year. It however ended 10 of those years with a huge surplus and is headed for a windfall exceeding $20 billion for this year.

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