42 ALRAQABA . ISSUE 18 - SAB addresses all relevant government entities in order to obtain the data needed to verify all actions taken with regard to public debt and ensure their conformity with the law. SAB also monitors the financial and economic conditions to identify the imbalances and risks facing the State’s general budget and proposes reforms to be taken for debt management. Such reforms shall take into consideration the management of public debts from a technical perspective in order to ensure that such obligations would not constitute a future financial burden on public finances as well as to relieve the State’s budget from bearing the cost of issuing and securing the funds required for the repayment of debt principal. - SAB, through the efforts of its technical audit teams from the different SAB sectors, has issued nine reports based on the assignment of the National Assembly. These reports dealt with a variety of themes presented under five chapters, as follows: • Chapter (1): Legal Basis – the thematic and time scope and the correspondence with the government entities concerned with public debt management. • Chapter (2): Main fiscal data relating to the issuance of public debt instruments. • Chapter (3): INTOSAI financial debt indicators. • Chapter (4): Latest updates regarding the issuance of public debt instruments. • Chapter (5): Data on KPC’s loan sought for financing its capital projects. The nine reports also included a set of findings, remarks, and recommendations. It is worth noting that SAB, represented by its audit teams, has met with the concerned committees from the National Assembly. Such meetings took place based on the request of the parliamentary committees in order to shed light on certain issues relating to public debts. - In May 2021, SAB prepared a study, at its own initiative, on the risks associated with a public debt bill allowing the government to seek public loans and carry out financing operations from local and international markets. In its study, SAB has presented a set of proposals to avoid the associated risks. It has also suggested structural reforms to be undertaken in the public finances and the national economy of the State. The study has been submitted to the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly, and the Ministry of Finance and was then presented in June 2021 at the Council of Ministers’ Economic and Financial Affairs Committee. Afterwards, the Council of Ministers issued Resolution No. 757 at its meeting held on 28/6/2021, based on which the study was referred to the Ministry of Finance to take whatever action it deems necessary for the public interest. - SAB incorporates a brief review of the reports issued on public debts within its annual reports and indicators. - SAB follows up and presents its remarks on the borrowing procedures undertaken by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) for securing a loan of KD 12 billion to finance its capital projects approved by the Council of Ministers over a period of five years. - SAB refers to the key public debt indicators issued by INTOSAI and builds on the ones commensurate with the nature of Kuwait’s economy and that precisely measure the public debt status. The INTOSAI public debt indicators are categorized into three main groups, as illustrated below, which are to be used for studying the performance of public debt by the different countries across the world. Article Feature
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0NA==