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In a region that produces 20% of the world’s crude, the decline of oil prices was bound to have an impact. For the six member states of the GCC, hydrocarbons are the basis for their economies, a major export earner, and the main source of government funds. The drop in global oil prices that began in mid-2014 has therefore squeezed state...

With low oil prices continuing to take their toll on the Kuwaiti economy, the government is hoping investment in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector begins to pay dividends. Indeed, there is significant room for growth in Kuwait’s SME sector: it contributes just 3% to GDP, compared to an average of 50% in high-income economies,...

Lower oil prices have significantly affected the Kuwaiti government’s fiscal position. Oil and gas exports make up 90% of public spending. The recent decline in energy prices has resulted in lower oil export revenues, which are projected to fall from $112.9bn in 2012 to $51bn in 2016, according to December 2015 data from the IMF. Tumbling oil...

By mid-2016 the period of slow economic growth and falling government revenues that kicked off across the GCC in 2014 was widely thought to have reached an inflection point. The region’s economy is expected to gradually firm up over the medium term. In Kuwait, which like most of its neighbours experienced economic contraction in 2014 and 2015...

One of the major achievements of successive Kuwaiti governments has been the successful management of the wealth generated by its largest asset, oil. Starting in the 1970s and 1980s Kuwaiti leaders consolidated these resources under the ownership of publically owned entities, and the public coffers have benefitted enormously. Indeed, the...

The story of Kuwait’s economy, like so many of its neighbours, has been dominated by oil. Once a regional port for pearling and fishing, the country was part of regional Gulf trade networks intimately tied to those of the Indian Ocean. Political independence in 1961, along with its massive hydrocarbons resources, helped Kuwait to become one of...