Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah has said the country’s expatriate population should be more than halved to 30 per cent of the total, as the coronavirus pandemic and a slump in oil prices send shivers through Gulf economies, Bloomberg reported.
Currently, foreigners account for nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million people, and “we have a future challenge to redress this imbalance,” he said on Wednesday.
He emphasised that there are 750,000 foreign domestic helpers in the country, matching half of the national Kuwaiti population of 1.45 million.
State-run news agency KUNA reported the prime minister added that he relies on sons and daughters of Kuwaiti nationals to work in all professions.
On the coronavirus situation, the prime minister said, “The health of all citizens and the residents are more important than the economy, as we are facing a difficult equation. Thus, we work according to our available capabilities to narrow the gap and reduce the damage as much as possible by passing the economic package.”
A government official publicly acknowledging contentious issues of Kuwait is rare. But the statements follow the push of lawmakers to reduce the number of overseas workers, especially unskilled labour, with the economy under intense strain.
A lot of these workers are from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and are employed as domestic workers alone. Kuwait has one of the region’s smallest stimulus packages. Still, top lender National Bank of Kuwait SAK predicts the country’s budget shortfall will reach 40 per cent of the gross domestic product in the fiscal year that started April 1, the most since the 1991 Gulf War and its aftermath.
As an effect of the coronavirus, most Gulf states are expected to run deficits of 15-25 per cent of economic output, leading to a build-up of debt, dwindling reserves and tough choices.
Kuwait lifted its 24-hour curfew on Sunday, though some areas remain under isolation in a bid to stem the outbreak.
PM Al Sabah said that Kuwait needed to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil. And while Kuwait has been replacing expatriates working in the public sector with nationals, the coronavirus has accelerated its efforts and upcoming elections seem to be giving the agenda the necessary push.
Kuwait so far has reported 29,359 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 230 deaths. Kuwaiti airline Jazeera Airways is rewarding frontline workers with round-trip tickets. Up to 50,000 tickets will be given out and these can be redeemed till end of 2021 and will entitle ticket holders to a round trip to any of the airline network’s destinations.
