KUWAIT CITY, 28 June 2004 — Windfall oil profits will most likely provide Kuwait with a sixth straight budget surplus for its 2004-05 fiscal year that began April 1, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) forecast in a report released yesterday. Kuwait’s Parliament is set to approve the state budget today, however planners have figured the tally sheet using ultra-conservative oil income numbers that show the state will come up short by around 2.87 billion dinars ($9.72 billion). The draft budget projects a total income for 2004-05 of 3.32 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($11.25 billion) with oil income comprising some 82 per cent of that figure, or 2.74 billion dinars ($9.28 billion). The draft figures were based on Kuwait pumping two million barrels per day and selling the crude for a modest $15 per barrel, although oil prices for months have ranged over $30 per barrel, and are not expected to drop anytime soon.
