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KPC predicts Kuwait's new budget deficit to be 60 pct

KUWAIT, Feb 9 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's state budget for the next fiscal year is anticipated to sustain a deficit of 60 percent, around KD 12 billion (USD 40.02 billion), as per an estimated oil price of USD 25 a barrel, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Nizar Al-Adsani.
In a keynote speech during a forum on human resources held on Tuesday, Al-Adsani said the KPC, which secures roughly 92 percent of the State's national income, should seek to boost income and find added-value for the barrel.
The oil sector is coping with a package of governmental reforms under the current economic circumstances in the country, he added, pointing to an ad hoc committee tasked with launching initiatives purposed to cut spending and slim costs at the KPC.
He expected the current fiscal year's state budget to suffer a deficit of KD 2 billion according to the estimated oil price of USD 45 per barrel, noting that the annual average price for the current FY hit USD 43 and is predicted to be in the vicinity of USD 41-42 per barrel.
The KPC's subsidiaries have cut costs by 15-20 percent and losing assets would be disposed of as part of the sector's retrenchment measures, Al-Adsani pointed out.
Addressing the aftershocks of the uncontrollable dip in oil prices, the KPC has decided to expand the stable field of petrochemicals, he said, pointing to a plan to provide renewable energy by 15 percent of consumption.
In this context, he said the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), a KPC subsidiary, has a plan to provide renewable energy, given that alternative energy used in the oil sector makes up 15 percent of used energy. (end) asj.jk.mt