Kuwait's foreign minister on Saturday floated the idea of imposing taxes on Kuwaitis, who pay nothing for cradle-to-grave government services. "Is it reasonable for the government to continue spending when citizens don't contribute?" said Sheikh Sabah, asked about the issue by journalists. "Everything at its right time," he said, without more detail.
Sheikh Sabah recently said Kuwait was determined to implement economic reform in Kuwait, where more than 93 percent of the 220,000 active-population Kuwaitis are generously paid by the government for relatively short workdays. The kingdom's private sector is dominated by foreign labor.
Kuwaitis enjoy an all-encompassing welfare state that provides them with education, medical care, housing, electricity and water with no charge. — (AFP, Kuwait City)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
