Kuwait assets swell to $296 billion

The total assets of Opec member Kuwait swelled to 81 billion dinars ($296 billion) at the end of the past fiscal year on March 31, a lawmaker said after a parliamentary session on Tuesday. "The net financial assets held by Kuwait were 81 billion dinars," at the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Waleed Al-Tabtabai told reporters, citing figures released by the government during the secret session.
In the previous year, Kuwait's surpluses were valued at $277 billion. The large rise is attributed directly to a sharp increase in the price of oil whose income makes up 94 percent of total public revenues. The assets are held in two state-owned funds, the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG) and the State General Reserves Fund, and are managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, the oil-rich Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund.
Most of the surpluses are held in foreign investments, especially in the United States and Europe. Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali, who gave a briefing on Kuwait's financial position to parliament, declined to reveal exact figures to reporters, but said the size is "close to figures revealed by MPs."
Kuwaiti foreign investments, which were estimated to have soared to a record 300 billion dollars in 2008, were severely affected by the global economic crisis. By law, 10 percent of Kuwait's total income is transferred into the RFFG every year, regardless of whether the budget is in surplus or deficit. The Gulf state has posted a budget surplus in each of the past 11 fiscal years, amounting to around $140 billion. In the past fiscal year, the emirate is expected to post a budget surplus close to $20 billion. Kuwait says it sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves and pumps around 2.3 million barrels per day. It has a native population of 1.1 million and 2.4 million foreign residents.