Kuwait enjoys income boom

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

A Kuwaiti man shops at a stall at a market in Kuwait City. Kuwait’s 2011 budget surplus reached $47 billion for the fiscal year.

Kuwait has posted record budget surplus and revenues in the 2011-2012 fiscal year that ended on March 31 on the back of high oil output and price, an economic report said yesterday.

The oil-rich Gulf state posted a historical budget surplus of 13.2 billion dinars ($47 billion) for the 13th consecutive fiscal year, the Al-Shall Economic Consultants said in a report citing official figures.

The previous highest surplus of 9.33 billion dinars ($33.2 billion) was posted in the 2007-2008 fiscal year when oil prices skyrocketed to a record $147 a barrel.

Kuwait had projected a deficit of $21 billion for 2011-2012 because it calculated oil income at $60 a barrel compared to the actual $110 a barrel and oil output at 2.2 million barrels per day compared to the actual production of 3 million bpd.

Kuwait has projected a deficit in each of the past 13 fiscal years but ended in surplus mainly for calculating oil income at a very conservative price. During that period, the emirate has accumulated about $250 billion in budget surpluses and is also expected to end the current year in the black, if oil prices remain high. Under Kuwaiti law, 10 percent of revenues are deducted every year in favor of the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund. 

Revenues in the past fiscal year hit a record $107.5 billion, Al-Shall reported, more than twice the budget projections of $47.7 billion. Last year’s income is 40.5 percent higher than the previous record of $76.5 billion posted in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. 

Oil revenues also reached a record $101.7 billion making up 94.5 percent of total income and more than twice the budget projections.