Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah denies reports on ending State of welfare

A visiting senior Kuwaiti official on Monday re-asserted the Kuwaiti Government's keenness on maintaining high standards of living for its citizens saying its development program is aimed at ensuring sustainable welfare for the Gulf country natives. The Government of Kuwait has not declared "at all that the welfare State has come to an end," stated the visiting Kuwait's State Minister for Cabinet Affairs and Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, when asked by reporters about such reports. The government plan, recently submitted to the National Assembly, was themed "toward sustainable welfare," the minister clarified. Shedding further light on the issue, the minister said the State development strategy included an explicit warning that hefty spending could not be sustainable and that the government should cooperate with all sectors of the society to transform it from "a consuming society into a producing one to ensure sustainable and continuous welfare." When asked about other details of the platform, the minister indicated that the 50-page development plan was accessible for the public via the internet. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has recently revealed the scheme in an address to the Parliament, noting, in part, that it was designed to achieve comprehensive reforms, activating sustainable development and realizing interests of the homeland and citizens, currently and in the future. His Highness Sheikh Jaber called for joint action and cooperation to realize development and sustainable welfare. Other Kuwaiti officials had also denied such circulated reports. On October 21st, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah denied the claims that the Government would lift citizens' subsidies. In a statement to KUNA, he affirmed its keenness on maintaining good living standards for the limited-income citizens. He explained that remarks he had made during a recent interview with a television station dealt with a study on assessment and "rationalization" of the subsidies offered for the nationals, not lifting them.