Restructuring Privatisation Programmes in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Lessons from the Kuwait Stock Exchange

Abstract

Amid the eruption of a fiscal crisis from declining oil prices and the rise of economic diversification initiatives to foster private-sector development, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have increasingly recognised the importance of privatisation as a reform measure for underperforming state-owned entities. This article reviews the surrounding objectives of privatisation and presents an optimal privatisation programme structure for GCC policymakers that caters to the requirements of the modern day. Lessons learnt from privatisations of developed countries may not be directly applicable; thus, the recent success case in the region embodied by the Kuwait Stock Exchange privatisation is incorporated to settle upon a recommended privatisation programme structure relevant to the GCC. Though the fiscal crisis for the GCC is only beginning, rushing towards privatisation without careful planning of the programme is inexcusable.