Kuwait cabinet approves wider anti-inflation plan

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INFLATION BUSTING: A consumer protection body is one of the meansures designed to limit price rises. (Getty Images)

Kuwait's government has given the final nod to a set of proposals from a committee tasked with developing a strategy against rising inflation, state news agency KUNA said on Tuesday.

The plan includes subsidising more goods, supporting some food firms in sectors such as livestock and flour mills to reduce prices for consumers.

The measures also include the creation of a consumer protection body to prevent fraud and exports of subsidised products.

"The Minister of Commerce and Industry Ahmad Baqer announced the cabinet's approval of the 19 rules recommended by the committee," KUNA said.

The proposals also support the central bank's efforts to stop inflationary pressures by rationalising credit policies of banks and ensuring foreign exchange rates did not cause inflation.

Earlier this year, the central bank has toughened rules for consumer loans to discourage banks from lending too much.

The world's seventh-largest oil exporter, the only Gulf Arab state without a dollar peg, is fighting record inflation hitting 11 percent in April and May, driven by food and housing costs.

Last month, the government allowed cooperative supermarkets, where nationals can buy subsidised food, to import commodities directly, cutting out wholesale importers in an effort to reduce prices at the till.

The government has raised salaries for citizens in the public service twice this year.

In June, Baqer said Kuwait could work with fellow Gulf Arab states to invest in food production and farming abroad in an effort to secure food supplies amid high global commodities prices and fears of shortages. (Reuters)

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