KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait's parliament Wednesday passed a deficit budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year projecting the highest spending in the OPEC member's history amid warnings the country's future is at risk. Thirty-nine MPs voted for the budget while 20 were opposed. Spending is projected at 19.44 billion dinars ($70.7 billion), an 11-percent rise from the previous budget, mostly to meet a string of pay hikes and grants for Kuwaitis, lawmakers said. The previous largest spending was 18.7 billion dinars in 2008-2009 when oil prices hit an all-time record above $147 a barrel. That budget included a one-off payment of 5.5 billion dinars for the pension agency. Revenues are estimated at 13.45 billion dinars, more than 90 percent from oil, a sharp 38 percent increase from last fiscal year. That leaves a deficit of 6.0 billion dinars.
