Daily Times

Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings cut Kuwait’s rating by one notch citing the Gulf state’s lack of a funding strategy to finance its deficit.

Hit hard by lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Kuwait faces liquidity risks largely because parliament has not authorised government borrowing due to a standoff.

S&P cut Kuwait’s rating by one notch to A+ from AA-(minus) and kept its outlook on the country negative, it said in a statement late on Friday. “The downgrade reflects a persistent lack of a comprehensive funding strategy despite the central government’s ongoing sizeable deficits,” it said.

“Due to parliamentary opposition, the government has so far been unable to pass a law giving it the authority to issue debt or gain immediate access to its large stock of accumulated assets”. S&P expects central government deficits to average 17% of gross domestic product annually between 2021 and 2024. In the fiscal year that ended in March, the country ran a central government deficit of 33% of GDP, S&P estimated.