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The Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance placed the fiscal deficit for the 2025-2026 fiscal year at 7.1 billion dinars, equivalent to $23.09 billion at an exchange rate of one dollar to 0.3076 dinars, according to final accounts released on July 8, 2026. That figure represented a 13.2 percent increase from the shortfall recorded in the prior fiscal period. Actual revenues reached 16.457 billion dinars while total expenditures stood at 23.598 billion dinars, the ministry’s statement showed.
Oil revenues accounted for the bulk of collections, totaling 13.584 billion dinars during the year, the finance ministry reported. That performance fell 11.2 percent below the initial forecast of 15.3 billion dinars. Non-oil revenues helped offset some of the gap but still left overall income 9.7 percent short of the 18.231 billion dinars that had been projected earlier.
Expenditures for the fiscal year came in 3.8 percent below the forecast of 24.538 billion dinars, according to the ministry’s final accounts. The lower spending failed to prevent the deficit from widening because revenue underperformance proved more pronounced than anticipated. The ministry attributed the outcome to weaker oil receipts linked to global price movements and production volumes during the April 2025 to March 2026 period.
Earlier projections had anticipated a deficit of approximately 6.3 billion dinars for fiscal 2025-2026, Arab News reported in February 2025 when the cabinet approved the initial budget framework. The actual shortfall exceeded those estimates by roughly 13 percent, the finance ministry figures confirmed. Revenues had been forecast at 18.2 billion dinars with expenditures planned near 24.5 billion dinars at that time.
Kuwait’s public finances have shown persistent vulnerability to oil market fluctuations, with hydrocarbon sales typically generating more than 80 percent of total revenue in most years, an assessment contained in historical reviews by the International Monetary Fund. The country recorded a substantial surplus in fiscal 2022-2023 when elevated crude prices boosted income above $90 billion, according to subsequent ministry compilations. That surplus gave way to renewed deficits as prices moderated and spending commitments remained elevated.
Salaries, subsidies and mandatory transfers have consistently absorbed the largest share of Kuwaiti budget outlays, often exceeding 70 percent of total expenditure in recent fiscal cycles, finance ministry breakdowns from prior years indicate. The 2025-2026 accounts reflect continued pressure from these fixed costs even as capital spending stayed below target. Officials have previously signaled plans to broaden the non-oil revenue base through new fees and taxes to reduce long-term reliance on petroleum income.
