Economics
One of the World’s Richest Petrostates Is Running Out of Cash
- Cheap oil is forcing debate on state handouts across the Gulf
- Kuwait among exporters facing deficits due to lower oil prices
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When Kuwait’s then-Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh warned in 2016 that it was time to cut spending and prepare for life after oil, he was ridiculed by a population raised on a seemingly endless flow of petrodollars. Four years on, one of the world’s richest countries is struggling to make ends meet as a sharp decline in energy prices raises profound questions over how Gulf Arab states are run.