Kuwaiti PM names new Finance Minister in Cabinet 'reshuffle'

Other major portfolios stay in same hands

The Kuwaiti parliament building in Kuwait City. EPA

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah has appointed a new finance minister, while other major Cabinet roles were unchanged, state news agency Kuna reported on Sunday.

Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad, Crown Prince of Kuwait, in March reappointed Sheikh Ahmad as Prime Minister, more than a month after the government resigned in response to disputes with an opposition-controlled parliament.

Of the main portfolios, Manaf Al Hajri was made Minister for Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs, while Bader Al Mulla stays on as Oil Minister.

"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.

"The removal of Abd Al Wahhab Al Rasheed [the 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."

Kuwait holds some of the world's largest oil reserves and has strong fiscal and external balance sheets.

But political divisions and institutional gridlock have hampered investment and reforms aimed at reducing its 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.

Mr Al Hajri was chief executive of asset management and banking institution the Kuwait Financial Centre for 16 years before resigning in 2020. He is well-known in business and finance circles in Kuwait.

Sheikh Talal Al Khaled Al Sabah was reappointed Minister of Interior and Acting Minister of Defence, and Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Sabah remains Foreign Minister.