Wealthy Gulf nation Kuwait is set to borrow for the first time in almost a decade, raising hopes that the petrostate will pursue an economic transformation to reduce its reliance on oil after lagging behind regional peers.
While Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have set ambitious goals to diversify, spending heavily on everything from artificial intelligence to new cities, Opec’s fourth-largest exporter has remained reliant on oil revenues to fund its bloated welfare state with relatively little domestic investment.
But Kuwait this week passed a long-anticipated public debt law that will allow it to borrow for the first time in eight years, which should help finance major projects such as a new port and airport terminal and — officials say — start diversifying sources of government funding.