Govt Shifts Attention To Lifting Petrol Subsidization

The government intends to go ahead soon with plans to reduce subsidies on petrol, as a cabinet-affiliated economic committee meets this week to study proposals presented on that regard.

The proposals, prepared by the Finance Ministry’s subsidies review committee, calls for ending subsidization of ‘ultra’ gasoline, while keeping partial subsidization of the ‘super’ and ‘premium’ varieties. Studies have shown that ultra gas users in Kuwait are ‘very limited’ thus removing subsidies will not affect consumers in general, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the studies recommend reducing subsidization of the super and premium varieties by 30 – 50 percent, while refocusing subsidization to premium gas which is preferred by a majority of consumers in Kuwait according to Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) studies.

These measures can help limit the ‘inflationary pressures’ that result from lifting subsidies on petrol, thus preventing a wide scale increase in prices of products and services in Kuwait, the sources said, quoting the study. The government has the authority to issue decisions to alter petrol prices without taking the parliament’s approval.