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Kuwait nearly doubles price of more environmentally-friendly, low-emission petrol

Kuwait nearly doubles price of more environmentally-friendly, low-emission petrol
MENA
2 min read
02 August, 2016
Kuwait will raise the price of cleaner petrol by 80 percent, starting September, in an attempt to respond to falling oil revenues which has hit the oil-producer hard.
The increase is the first in almost 20 years [AFP]

The Kuwaiti government said it will raise petrol prices by more than 80 percent, in the latests economic reform aimed at coping with falling oil revenues.

From 1 September the price of low octane petrol will rise by 41 percent to 28 US cents a litre. High-grade petrol will increase by 61 percent to 35 cents, the government said in a statement.

Kuwait also announced that the price of environmentally-friendly low-emission "ultra" petrol will rise by 83 percent to 55 cents a litre.

These are the first increases in heavily-subsidised petrol prices in the OPEC member for almost two decades.

The oil-rich Gulf state liberalised the prices of diesel and kerosene in January 2015 and revises their prices monthly.

Kuwait is the last country among the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council states to increase the price of petrol.

Other GCC members - Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - have either completely liberalised fuel prices or raised them substantially because of the sharp fall in oil income since mid-2014.

The Kuwaiti cabinet said a government committee will revise the new petrol prices every three months depending on international oil prices.

In April, parliament approved a government-sponsored bill to raise electricity and water prices paid by foreign residents and businesses, but exempted citizens.

This increase - the first in almost 50 years - will take effect from September next year.

Kuwait has posted a budget deficit of $18.3 billion in the past fiscal year, according to provisional figures, following 16 years of windfall due to high oil prices.

It is projecting a deficit of $29 billion in the current 2016/2017 fiscal year.

The emirate is home to 1.3 million native citizens and around three million foreigners.