Kuwait bans flights to 31 'high risk' countries

Kuwait bans flights to 31 'high risk' countries amid coronavirus outbreak

Flights from at least 31 'high risk' countries will no longer be permitted to land in Kuwait, authorities said, as the Gulf state continues to battle Covid-19.

MENA

3 min read

�� Staff

02 August, 2020

Thousands of people have been infected in Kuwait [Getty]

announced a ban on international commercial flights from 31 countries deemed to be high risk, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday, as the country continues to battle the

Flights from Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and The Philippines will no longer land in , as well as a number of other countries including Italy and China.

The announcement came as authorities confirmed Kuwait Airport would operate at about 30 percent from Saturday, and is expected to gradually increase its capacity in the coming weeks.

Kuwait has enforced one of the most stringent in the Gulf region to tackle the coronavirus crisis with nationwide curfews put in place in recent months.

More than 67,000 infections of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Gulf state, where more than 400 have already died from the virus.

Last month, reports said Kuwait has already used up one-third of its general reserves in just over a month, as and coronavirus lockdowns hit revenues, while look set to deplete the Gulf state’s savings further.

The Kuwait government used up 1.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($4.78 billion) of its reserves in the past 38 days due to a rapid drop in revenues over the past months, local media reported.

The General Reserve Fund - managed by - has dropped from 4.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($14.34 billion) to 3 billion ($9.56 billion) this year.

The fund has been depleted for six years in a row, when oil prices dropped from highs of above $100 a barrel to current levels of around $40.

The Gulf state's deficit has not been helped by its huge public sector bill, including a generous welfare state and large number of state employees.

Kuwait could run a deficit of 40 percent this year and will be unable to borrow due to a disagreement between parliament and the government.

It means the General Reserve Fund could be depleted this year or by April 2021, according to Gulf News, forcing it to tap into the Future Generations Fund, which has been earmarked for the next generation of Kuwaitis in a post-oil age.

The financial situation has also seen a number of measures enacted that target expatriates including a law that could see to leave the country.

Indians are Kuwait's largest expatriate community, sending home some $4.8 billion in remittances in 2018.

In June, Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah pledged to decrease the percentage of expatriates from 70 percent of the population to 30 percent.

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