The state news agency KUNA reported that Sheikh Sabah has ordered the gifts for all the estimated 1 million Kuwaiti citizens.
It even covers newborns until Feb. 1. But excluded are the more than 2 million foreigner workers, mostly South Asians.
The food program is expected to offer free staples such as rice, eggs and milk until March 2012.
The reason is three upcoming milestones: 50 years of independence, the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that drove out Iraqi troops and the fifth year of Sheikh Sabah's rule.
The announcement was made following an overnight meeting of the Cabinet.
Inflation in Kuwait soared to 5.9 percent in November, the highest in 20 months on the back of high food prices which rose by 12.3 percent.
The fifth largest OPEC producer has posted budget surpluses in each of the past 11 fiscal years, totaling more than $140 billion, and is also headed for another healthy surplus this year thanks to rising oil price.
The government has made similar but smaller grants in the past.
The state provides a cradle-to-grave welfare system to its citizens who receive most public services and petrol at heavily subsidized prices and pay no income tax.
Some 80 percent of Kuwait's 360,000-strong national workforce are employed in government jobs, where the average monthly wage is more than $3,500.
