Kuwait budget spending seen at $78.8bn

Kuwait's state budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year is seen at around 22 billion dinars ($78.8 billion), a 13 percent increase on the previous year, Al-Watan daily reported on Monday. The estimate assumes oil revenue of around 12.8 billion dinars, the newspaper said, citing the chairman of the parliamentary budget committee Adnan Abdulsamad. He said 4.7 billion dinars will be earmarked for wages - an increase of 7 percent - meaning that salaries would make up 30 percent of the budget, Kuwait's Al-Watan reported. Wages have become a central politicial issue in recent weeks in the Opec member state. State-run Kuwait Airways staff are striking over pay demands and customs workers started a walkout last week, also over pay. The recent round of industrial action across the country does not appear to have halted crude exports as it did in a wave of strikes last year, although domestic newspapers have reported some shortages of fresh food. The government announced a 25 percent rise in pay for state workers last week but some unions say the measures do not go far enough. They argue that the cost of living is rising and that wage increases at management levels are not reflected lower down the payscale. Policymakers and economists say that while Kuwait can afford such pay increases in the short term, thanks to the high oil price, it risks longer-term imbalances if the cycle of strikes and pay hikes continues.