Cash gift plan for Kuwaitis

A PARLIAMENTARY committee in Kuwait has proposed that the government pay a portion of the interest on citizens’ personal loans and give a 1,000 Kuwaiti dinar (£2,250) gift to each citizen without such debts.

The MPs’ proposal would need approval of the wider assembly and the country’s ruler if it is to be passed into law.

If it becomes law it would not be the first time that Kuwait, one of the world’s richest countries per capita, gave out such aid.

In 2011, to mark three major anniversaries, ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah granted 1,000 dinars to each of the country’s 1.2 million citizens as well as free food rations for 13 months.