Kuwaiti sailors resting on a dhow. (KUNA – Ghazi Qaffaf)

KUWAIT CITY, March 26: The Ministry of Finance is expected to implement the proposed fuel price hike on April 1, 2016 since the National Assembly has already approved the Economic Reform Document, reports Al-Anba daily quoting senior official sources.

However, a source from the Supreme Council for Planning rejected the idea of applying the new prices on the abovementioned date, pointing out that even if the Assembly approved the Economic Reform Document and did not ask for any changes, it still requires referral of the document to the Parliamentary Economic Committee on March 29, 2016 so it is not possible to enforce the decision on April 1 which falls on a Friday.

He added that it also takes time to send the parliamentary approval to the government, indicating the reasonable date is either Oct 1, 2016 or Jan 1, 2017. On the application of the new electricity charges, the source said both the legislative and executive authorities agreed that it will be done after approving the State budget for fiscal 2017/2018.