The Kuwait government extends partial curfew for 16 hours and the national holiday up until May 28, while assigning the ministries of interior and information to name and shame those violating home quarantine and curfew.
Government spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem said the government and private institutions would extend their holiday until May 28 and would resume on Sunday, May 31. The national holiday which was imposed due to the coronavirus is originally scheduled to end on April 26.
Al-Mezrem said the curfew, already in place to curb spread of the virus, would be extended
starting the first day of holy month of Ramadhan. He said the curfew would start at 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the next day.
Meanwhile, Al-Mezrem, said the government assigned the ministries of Interior and Information to make public the names of people violating home quarantine and the curfew in media and social media.
Meanwhile, the government discussed economic and social repercussions of coronavirus and steps taken by the supreme committee for economic stimulus, presented by its head, Kuwait Central Bank Governor Mohammad Al-Hashel.
The review urged an early intervention to contain a crisis characterised by uncertainty, due to its negative impacts on global oil prices as a result of dwindling supply and demand and the halt in a large proportion of global economic activity.
The results of the global pandemic were described as being of “unparalleled” proportions, far exceeding initial estimates compared to each and every crisis that has emerged since World War II.
The need to secure public funds was another topic of discussion, along with the importance of protecting the national economy, particularly the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector, which is the most vulnerable to these effects.
The need to protect the national workforce, burden sharing amongst all parties to overcome the crisis and to assist strongly-performing economic entity, which have been known to contribute to the national economy, in order to maintain their production levels upon a return to normal life.
The committee said the 11-article proposed solutions are based on current statistics, leaving the door open for a different approach in the event of the lengthening of the crisis’ duration. In particular, ministers discussed article six and seven of the draft proposals, related to providing individuals, SMEs and economic entities with soft loans – a role which banks could positively contribute through providing liquidity.
The discussions paid homage to the efforts of the Central Bank over the past decade to strengthen the banking sector, leading to strong buffers and a high level of financial safety indicators which the nation can now bear the fruit of at this point in time.
The proposals, which received cabinet approval, handed out to virus-impacted individuals, SMEs and economic entities.
In order to protect social security, the committee also recommended that state charity, Bait Al
Zakat, provide assistance to marginally-employed and financially-affected labour, estimated at around 500,000 individuals, for food aid over a 100-day period.
The need to closely pay attention to applying appropriate policies in relation to maintaining social security, and to strengthening the role of civil society bodies in supporting these institutions was also approved.
