Kuwait City: Kuwait's Amir Shaikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah called on Tuesday for national unity to meet challenges facing the Gulf state, in a speech to lawmakers ahead of elections on December 5.
"National unity has proven to be our strongest weapon in facing challenges, dangers and crises," said the amir, who assumed power last month on the death of the previous ruler.
Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah, also addressing the opening of a supplementary legislative session, called for greater efforts to "diversify revenue sources and rationalise spending and consumption ... without detriment to citizens" in the cradle-to-grave welfare state.
He said the government was seeking more sustainable tools to finance the budget, in which public sector salaries and subsidies accounted for 71 per cent of spending for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
The nearly $140 billion economy is facing a yawning deficit of $46 billion this year.
A priority will be overcoming legislative gridlock on a bill that would allow Kuwait to tap international debt markets.
Lawmakers opposed to the debt law have called for clarity on government plans to reduce reliance on oil exports, which accounted for 89 per cent of revenues in the last fiscal year.