KUWAIT – Kuwait's cabinet has told all government departments to limit spending to at least 10 percent as it looks to address the country's budget deficit.

The measures also call to limit spending on local and international functions and exhibitions, travel expenses pertaining to overseas training, foreign missions and medical treatment for nationals, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Kuwait's finance ministry said budget deficit increased nearly 175 percent in the 2020-21 year to 10.8 billion dinars ($35.5 billion) while noting that it was the highest deficit in the country's fiscal history.

This week’s cabinet session agreed to reconsider the list of prices for state property rents, land and buildings, and on ways to ensure collection of government debts.

The government will look at ways to stop disbursement of national labor support to workers in the private sector whose total salary reaches 3,000 dinars or more.

The cabinet also discussed a Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) report and a briefing by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, on measures to improve the country's sovereign credit rating over the next four years. – Agencies