Kuwaiti prime minister selects new cabinet: state news agency

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah has selected a new cabinet, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday without giving further details.

Sheikh Ahmad was re-appointed as prime minister by the crown prince in March, more than a month after the government resigned due to renewed friction with parliament.

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who has taken over most of the emir's duties, last year named Sheikh Ahmad as premier and called early legislative polls after dissolving the previous parliament to end feuding that impeded fiscal reforms.

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Tensions resurfaced between parliament and the government, sworn in last October, as lawmakers pressed for a debt relief bill, under which the state would buy Kuwaiti citizen's personal loans, and sought to question two ministers.

The wealthy Gulf oil-producing nation has been trying to strengthen its state finances as part of structural reforms, including a debt law that would allow the state to tap international markets but which has faced legislative gridlock.

Political bickering has for years hampered investment and reforms in Kuwait, which is heavily dependent on oil revenues, has an expansive welfare system and a public sector that employs roughly 80% of its citizens. Kuwaitis account for less than a third of the population of 4.6 million people.