Another handout?

If you're living in Kuwait this won't be news, but may be of surprise to outsiders.

…Finance Minister Mishari Al-Humaidhi said last month that the government has
given some $5.5 billion in cash handouts and salary hikes to Kuwaitis during the
past two years.Still, newly-elected MPs are demanding further pay rises and
handouts with a projected cost of billions of dollars for the public purse.
Several lawmakers are demanding a salary increase of $170 per month for Kuwaiti
employees which the government said would cost around $1.3 billion a year. On
Wednesday, 29 of parliament’s 50 MPs submitted a bill that would write off an
estimated eight billion dollars in loans owned by citizens to Kuwaiti banks.
Parliament is also considering another bill that would channel 25 percent of
annual profits from state assets into a fund that would distribute the income
equally to all Kuwaitis… (contd. - Arab Times 2/11/06)

That’s right, a bill to write off citizen’s debts. What message does that send out to citizens who try to live within their means? Are there any?? And as for non-citizens, bear the extra inflationary costs… or leave.

Let’s hope common sense prevails again, as the Kuwait Times also comments in todays newspaper…

A similar attempt in the previous term failed to get off the ground when the
government boycotted a parliamentary session held to debate the issue. (Kuwait
Times 2/11/06)