Kuwait City, (IINA) : Kuwait announced plans to raise petrol prices by more than 80% from September 1 as part of economic reforms aimed at countering falling oil revenues, according to media reports.

A statement after the weekly cabinet meeting said the price of low-octane petrol would rise by 41% to 28 US cents a liter while high-grade petrol would increase by 61% to 35 cents. It also decided to raise the price of environmentally friendly low-emission “ultra” petrol by 83% to 55 cents a liter.

They are the first increases in heavily subsidized petrol prices in the OPEC member for almost two decades. The Gulf state liberalized the prices of diesel and kerosene in January 2015 and revised rates monthly.

Kuwait is the last country among the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council states to increase the price of petrol. Other GCC members – Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – have either completely liberalized fuel prices or raised them substantially because of the sharp fall in oil income since mid-2014.

The Kuwaiti cabinet said a government committee would revise the new petrol prices every three month depending on international oil prices.

In April, the parliament approved a government-sponsored bill to raise electricity and water prices paid by foreign residents and businesses, but exempted citizens. This increase, the first in almost 50 years, will take effect from September next year.

Kuwait has posted a budget deficit of $18.3bn in the past fiscal year, according to provisional figures. It is projecting a deficit of $29bn in the current 2016/2017 fiscal year. The country is home to 1.3 million native citizens and around three million foreigners.