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07-15-2007, 05:02 AM
Kuwait assets top KD 61bn
Kuwait Times
July 04, 2007
By B Izzak, Staff writer
KUWAIT: Finance Minister Bader Al-Humaidhi said yesterday that the country's total financial assets reached KD 61.4 billion ($213 billion) at the end of last fiscal year which ended on March 31, a growth of 27.5 percent over the previous year. In a written statement released to reporters in the National Assembly, the minister said that assets of the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG) have reached KD 50.15 billion ($174 billion), a 30 percent increase from the previous fiscal year's of KD 38.46 billion. The Public Reserve Fund also grew by 16 percent from KD 9.66 billion to KD 11.22 billion ($39 billion), the statement said.
The minister released the statement after the Assembly debated the country's financial status behind closed doors for about four hours. Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi said after the session that MPs decided to refer the report to the Assembly's budgets and final accounts committee for further study. Humaidhi said that assets of the RFFG more than tripled from KD 15.4 billion five years ago, as the fund made a net profit of KD 13.73 billion during the period, an annual return rate of 10.8 percent.
The RFFG was established in the 1960s to manage financial surplus of the country. By law, 10 percent of total public revenues are deducted every year and transferred to the fund even if the budget has a deficit. Returns of the fund do not figure in the state budget and are added to the fund, whose assets have sharply increased in the past few years because of high oil prices.
The two reserves, RFFG and the Public Reserve Fund, are managed by overseas investments by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). Most of the assets are believed to be invested in the United States and Europe with other amounts in Asia. Humaidhi said that returns on the RFFG in the last fisal year reached KD 5.1 billion while public reserves yielded a net profit of KD 3.1 billion.
The minister said that the so-called liberation and reconstruction loan dropped from KD 22.2 billion to KD 8.9 billion on March 31. The loan was taken by the Public Reserve Fund from the RFFG during the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. This means that it's an internal loan and does not constitute real liabilities on the government. The government began repaying the loan gradually when oil revenues improved and the budget began to post a surplus. Its repayment involves transferring money from the Public Re
serve Fund to the RFFG.
The minister also said that the budget posted a net surplus of KD 3.65 billion in the last fiscal year after deducting the 10 percent of revenues for the RFFG, which amounted to over KD 1.5 billion. Kuwait has boasted a budget surplus in each of the past eight fiscal years amounting to over KD 20 billion. It is expected to post a surplus for the ninth straight year this current fiscal year, which began on April 1. Khorafi announced that the Assembly will next week complete debating the remaining budgets an
d is expected to close the current term on Wednesday.
The Institute for International Finance estimated in May that KIA has around $400 billion in assets under management. The KIA has a 7.2 percent stake in DaimlerChrysler, making it the automaker's biggest shareholder. It decided in 2005 to double its asset allocation for Asia to 20 percent of its portfolio. KIA is looking to invest in eastern Europe, Australia, Russia and Asian markets such as China and Vietnam, Executive Director Saleh Al-Sagoubi told reporters this week.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news...d=Mjg2MTEyODgz (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=Mjg2MTEyODgz)
Kuwait Times
July 04, 2007
By B Izzak, Staff writer
KUWAIT: Finance Minister Bader Al-Humaidhi said yesterday that the country's total financial assets reached KD 61.4 billion ($213 billion) at the end of last fiscal year which ended on March 31, a growth of 27.5 percent over the previous year. In a written statement released to reporters in the National Assembly, the minister said that assets of the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG) have reached KD 50.15 billion ($174 billion), a 30 percent increase from the previous fiscal year's of KD 38.46 billion. The Public Reserve Fund also grew by 16 percent from KD 9.66 billion to KD 11.22 billion ($39 billion), the statement said.
The minister released the statement after the Assembly debated the country's financial status behind closed doors for about four hours. Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi said after the session that MPs decided to refer the report to the Assembly's budgets and final accounts committee for further study. Humaidhi said that assets of the RFFG more than tripled from KD 15.4 billion five years ago, as the fund made a net profit of KD 13.73 billion during the period, an annual return rate of 10.8 percent.
The RFFG was established in the 1960s to manage financial surplus of the country. By law, 10 percent of total public revenues are deducted every year and transferred to the fund even if the budget has a deficit. Returns of the fund do not figure in the state budget and are added to the fund, whose assets have sharply increased in the past few years because of high oil prices.
The two reserves, RFFG and the Public Reserve Fund, are managed by overseas investments by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA). Most of the assets are believed to be invested in the United States and Europe with other amounts in Asia. Humaidhi said that returns on the RFFG in the last fisal year reached KD 5.1 billion while public reserves yielded a net profit of KD 3.1 billion.
The minister said that the so-called liberation and reconstruction loan dropped from KD 22.2 billion to KD 8.9 billion on March 31. The loan was taken by the Public Reserve Fund from the RFFG during the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. This means that it's an internal loan and does not constitute real liabilities on the government. The government began repaying the loan gradually when oil revenues improved and the budget began to post a surplus. Its repayment involves transferring money from the Public Re
serve Fund to the RFFG.
The minister also said that the budget posted a net surplus of KD 3.65 billion in the last fiscal year after deducting the 10 percent of revenues for the RFFG, which amounted to over KD 1.5 billion. Kuwait has boasted a budget surplus in each of the past eight fiscal years amounting to over KD 20 billion. It is expected to post a surplus for the ninth straight year this current fiscal year, which began on April 1. Khorafi announced that the Assembly will next week complete debating the remaining budgets an
d is expected to close the current term on Wednesday.
The Institute for International Finance estimated in May that KIA has around $400 billion in assets under management. The KIA has a 7.2 percent stake in DaimlerChrysler, making it the automaker's biggest shareholder. It decided in 2005 to double its asset allocation for Asia to 20 percent of its portfolio. KIA is looking to invest in eastern Europe, Australia, Russia and Asian markets such as China and Vietnam, Executive Director Saleh Al-Sagoubi told reporters this week.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news...d=Mjg2MTEyODgz (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=Mjg2MTEyODgz)