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Kuwait earns half budget in three months

KUWAIT CITY - OPEC member Kuwait has earned 6.7 billion dinars (25 billion dollars) in the first three months of the current fiscal year, more than half the projected annual income, according finance ministry figures released on Thursday.

The earnings represent around 53 percent of the estimated revenues of 12.68 billion dinars (47.5 billion dollars) for the 2008/2009 fiscal year which began on April 1.

Oil revenues came in at 6.29 billion dinars (23.5 billion dollars), also about 54 percent of budget projections for oil income.

In calculating budget revenues, Kuwait adopted a conservative price of 50 dollars a barrel for its oil, but the actual price has been above 100 dollars since the start of the year. It peaked at 133 dollars in May.

Kuwait, which says it sits on 10 percent of global oil reserves, has been pumping about 2.6 million barrels per day.

The emirate's budget estimates spending at 18.966 billion dinars (71 billion dollars), and projects a massive deficit of 23.5 billion dollars.

Local economic reports, however, predict the emirate will end up the year with a healthy surplus. It will be the 10th straight year of budget surplus.

In the past fiscal year which ended on March 31, the Gulf emirate posted a record surplus of 9.33 billion dinars (35 billion dollars).

Based on officials figures compiled by AFP, the fourth largest OPEC producer posted a budget surplus of 30.35 billion dinars (113 billion dollars) in the past nine fiscal years starting with the 1999-2000 year.

The emirate which has foreign investments worth 264 billion dollars, has a native population of just over one million, besides 2.35 million foreign residents.