Kuwaiti Prime Minister Selects New Cabinet
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Kuwait's Prime Minister sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah has
appointed a new finance minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle
that left other major roles unchanged, state news agency KUNA
reported on Sunday, trend reports citing al
arabiya .
The crown prince in March reappointed Sheikh Ahmad as prime
minister, more than a month after the government resigned in
response to friction with an opposition-controlled parliament.
Of the main portfolios, Manaf Abdulaziz al-Hajri was made
minister for finance and minister of state for economic and
investment affairs, while Bader Al Mulla, the incumbent oil
minister, stays on in the role.
“The biggest challenge for the government is to regain the trust
of the people,” said Ahmad al-Din, member of the political bureau
of the Kuwaiti Progressive Movement (left).
“The removal of Abd al-Wahhab al-Rasheed (former finance
minister), who was an element of tension with the 2022 parliament,
indicates that the current government is betting on the return of
the 2022 parliament,” he added.
Kuwait holds some of the world's largest oil reserves and has
strong fiscal and external balance sheets, but political bickering
and institutional gridlock have hampered investment and reforms
aimed at reducing its heavy reliance on oil revenues.
Relations have been particularly tense between the prime
minister and the speaker of the National Assembly, elected in 2020,
since the Constitutional Court in March annulled last September's
election results.
Finance Minister al-Hajri was CEO of asset management and
banking institution Kuwait Financial Center for 16 years before
resigning in 2020 and is well-known in business and finance circles
in Kuwait.
Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah was re-appointed as minister of
interior and acting minister of defense, and Sheikh Salem Abdullah
al-Jaber al-Sabah remains foreign minister.
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