Jun 18, 2012
The International Monetary Fund has said Kuwait’s economic growth is expected to slow to 6.6% in 2012 from 8.25% in 2011, though higher public spending and buoyant oil revenues should keep the economy growing rapidly this year, Zawya Dow Jones has reported. High oil revenues and prices have helped the Gulf country generate large fiscal surpluses that have fed its growing public spending, but the IMF said it expects Kuwaiti growth to slow rapidly to 1.8% in 2013. It didn’t provide a reason for the sharp drop in next year’s predicted growth rate. The IMF had warned in May that a combination of higher wages and a rising population risks consuming all the country’s oil revenues by the year 2017, which would prevent Kuwait from setting aside surplus oil wealth for future generations.
