Kuwait has forecast a deficit of $22.4 billion in its 2010/11 budget as the spending is projected to reach $56.1 billion, a rise of 33.5 percent above the current year.

Income in the fiscal year which starts on April 1, 2010 is seen at 9.72 billion dinars, Khalifa Hamada, the undersecretary of the ministry of finance, told Reuters.

The Opec member had forecast a deficit of 4.85 billion dinars in its 2009/10 budget, assuming its crude, the main revenue earner, would fetch $35 a barrel. For the next year, the oil price forecast has been raised to $43.

Revenues are expected to reach $33.7 billion compared to $28.1 billion in the current fiscal year that ends on March 31.

The draft budget projects an oil income of $29.9 billion for the coming fiscal year, with the oil price forecast raised from $35 a barrel this year to $43 dollars in 2010/2011.