The Kuwaiti government is planning to impose taxes on expats’ remittances and companies, and privatize healthcare and education, according to a report in the Kuwait Times.
Government sources revealed that a special ministerial committee has already prepared a package of economic and financial reform legislations to be presented by the new Cabinet and referred to the new parliament in mid-December.
The sources explained that the government aims to start executing its economic reform plan early and that it expects fierce confrontation from the new parliament. However, it insists on pushing ahead with economic reform as the most important topic on the government’s agenda, along with security and the GCC security pact.
The government believes that privatizing education and healthcare is a must, while the opposition considers this as unconstitutional, they said.
They stressed that the health sector’s privatization is inevitable and that hospital management would be offered to international specialized companies, beginning with Jaber Hospital. The sources added that school privatization would experimentally start with one school per educational area.
The government will also propose cancelling the current form of subsidies and direct them only to those with limited income, the sources told Kuwait Times.
"The agenda also includes imposing a 10 percent tax on companies and a 5 percent tax on expats’ money transfers", they concluded.