Kuwaiti Finance Minister Manaf Al-Hajeri has resigned after he lost his role as chairman of the authority that manages the country’s $700 billion sovereign wealth fund.
(Bloomberg) — Kuwaiti Finance Minister Manaf Al-Hajeri has resigned after he lost his role as chairman of the authority that manages the country’s $700 billion sovereign wealth fund.
The departure of Al-Hajeri after three months in the job makes him the country’s fifth finance minister to vacate the post in three years. A decree was issued accepting the resignation, state-run KUNA reported on Wednesday.
Read more: Kuwait’s $700 Billion Fund Is Being Eclipsed by Ambitious Peers
Up until June, Al-Hajeri had headed up the Kuwait Investment Authority in his capacity as state minister for economic and investment affairs. That role was handed to Saad Al-Barrak when he was named both oil minister and state minister for economic and investment affairs in the latest line-up last month. The post of KIA chairman was historically held by the finance minister, according to a decades-old law. An emiri decree in 2021 however states that the KIA head should be the state minister for economic affairs.
During his short tenure, Al-Hajeri is known to have clashed with government officials over other matters, including salaries for public-sector workers, and imposing charges on residents.
A separate decree was issued naming Al-Barrak as acting finance minister, KUNA said.
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