KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – Oil-rich Kuwait posted a budget surplus of 21 billion dollars in the past fiscal year which ended March 31, the 10 straight year of windfall, preliminary official figure showed on Sunday.
The emirate posted a record income of 72.3 billion dollars, up 66.7 percent over budget projections, due to high oil prices in the first half of 2008, figures posted on the finance ministry website showed.
Spending totalled 51.3 billion dollars, just 79.3 percent of spending in the budget estimated at 65 billion dollars.
The figures are not final as they are expected to undergo end-of-year accounting adjustments.
Oil revenues came in at 68.1 billion dollars, up 70.6 percent on budget estimates and more than 94 percent of total revenues. Non-oil income was 4.2 billion dollars.
Most of the revenues were made in the first half of last fiscal year when oil prices sky-rocketed to above 147 dollars, before slumping to below around 40 dollars per barrel.
Oil revenues in OPEC member Kuwait were calculated on the basis of a price of 50 dollars per barrel.
Based on official figures compiled by AFP, Kuwait has chalked up a total budget surplus of 113 billion dollars since the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
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