Salaries and expenses continue to dominate Kuwait’s budget

Kuwait City, March 10: the article ‘Sales and similar expenses’ constantly constitutes the highest expense in the General State Budget, exceeding all other budgetary items. The aforementioned element becomes a controversy point due to its continuous increase, which often exceeds the growth of general income. This problem is aggravated by the dependence on fluctuating oil prices, as well as the global dynamics of supply and demand or geopolitical disturbances that can increase oil prices. The inclusion of the phrase ‘and similar expenses’ within the classification of the budget have caused a debate among the interested authorities, since it is classified under salaries, although it does not fall under the traditional definition of ’employee compensation’.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance clarified that the ‘compensation of employees’ refers to total cash and the benefits paid to employees for the work done during the relevant period (chapter one). However, the ‘similar wages and expenses’ covers the compensation of employees in several sectors such as government ministries and departments (Chapter one), Judicial Affairs (Chapter Eight), Affiliated Entities (Six Chapter), Independent Institutions (Six Chapter), Social Security Contributions (Six Chapter), Support for National Employment in the Non -Governmental Sector (Chapter Seven) and Social Care under the Ministry of Social Affairs (Social Affairs (Chapter Six).