KUWAIT CITY, Oct 30 (AFP) :  Kuwait's income hit 35.3 billion dollars in the first half of the fiscal year, surpassing the budget's full year target and posting 19.3 billion dollars in provisional surplus, official figures showed on Wednesday.

Earnings in the six months to September 30 were 2.4 percent higher than the 34.5 billion dollars of revenues estimated for the whole 2010/2011 fiscal year, according to figures posted on the central bank of Kuwait's website.
The figures were up 23 percent on 28.7 billion dollars of revenues earned in the first six months of the previous fiscal year thanks to higher oil prices and production.

Oil income in the period reached 33.2 billion dollars, or 94.2 percent of total revenues, and were 8.8 percent higher than the 30.5 billion dollars the budget projected for the whole year.

Oil revenues were up 22.5 percent on the 27.1 billion dollars earned in the same period last fiscal year.
Actual spending reached 16 billion dollars, way below the budget projections of 57.8 billion dollars for the whole year, the figures showed.

At mid year, the oil-rich Gulf state posted a provisional budget surplus of 19.3 billion dollars compared to a deficit of 23.3 billion dollars projected by the budget.

Local economic reports have forecast that Kuwait would post a healthy budget surplus for the 12th straight year, thanks to a sharp rise in oil revenues.

The National Bank of Kuwait, the emirate's largest lender, said in an economic report two weeks ago that the budget surplus would range between 8.2 billion dollars and 13.8 billion dollars, depending on oil revenues.
The Kuwaiti budget estimates revenues at 34.5 billion dollars and spending at 57.8 billion dollars, but NBK's forecast put revenues at 64 billion dollars and spending at around 50 billion dollars.

Kuwait has calculated oil revenues at a conservative price of 43 dollars a barrel while NBK estimates average Kuwaiti oil prices at 72-73 dollars a barrel in the fiscal year which ends on March 31.

Under Kuwaiti law, 10 percent of revenues are deducted every year in favour of the emirate's sovereign wealth fund, whose assets are estimated at around 277 billion dollars.

Returns on the fund are not included in the budget.

OPEC's fifth-largest producer has projected a deficit in each of the past 11 fiscal years, but has ended all of them in the black, accumulating more than 140 billion dollars of surpluses.

Kuwait claims it holds 10 percent of global crude reserves and is pumping around 2.3 million barrels per day.