Kuwait has signalled a major shift in its economic trajectory, placing privatisation near the heart of its new annual development plan for 2025/26, unveiled by the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD). According to the public summary of the report, one of the plan’s nine strategic programmes is the “Public Privatisation Programme”, designed to deepen the role of the private sector, diversify state income and reshape Kuwait’s public-finance model.
The new development plan sets out a broad effort to transition state-owned assets toward more market-driven structures, marking one of the clearest attempts in recent years to rebalance the distribution of economic activity between the public and private sectors. The report emphasises four main policy measures: legislative updates to increase citizen ownership, amendments to competition regulations in key operational sectors, the creation of partnership-model companies, and the allocation of health and education shares to citizens at nominal prices. These policies aim to widen participation and strengthen the fiscal foundations needed for long-term diversification.
The fiscal backdrop strengthens the case for a more cohesive approach. Kuwait’s 2025/26 budget projects revenues of KD 18.23 billion against expenditures of KD 24.54 billion, leaving a deficit of KD 6.31 billion. With approximately 84 percent of revenue still derived from oil, policymakers face mounting pressure to expand non-oil income, reinvest privatisation surpluses and deepen citizen engagement in economic activity—all objectives closely aligned with Kuwait Vision 2035.
MEO Economists suggest that Kuwait could accelerate this transition by adopting a unified citizen share offering—a consolidated vehicle that would group assets such as the North Shuaiba Power Plant, the Health Assurance Hospitals Company (Dhaman), education-sector offerings and future utilities under a single national subscription. While this is not part of the government’s formal plan, proponents argue that an umbrella structure would simplify participation, boost liquidity and overcome the slow, fragmented pace that has historically limited the impact of previous privatisation rounds. They view such a model as a means of delivering immediate momentum while anchoring citizens more directly in the reform process.
By linking citizen ownership with major infrastructure and service-sector assets, the plan seeks to cultivate a more resilient and diversified economic model. If executed with consistency and supported by investor confidence, Kuwait’s privatisation efforts could mark the early stages of a structural shift in which citizens evolve from passive beneficiaries of oil wealth to active shareholders in the nation’s broader economic transformation.
