Arab leaders have begun taking extraordinary measures in an attempt to avoid widespread public protests like those seen over the past month in Tunisia, leading to the ousting of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah issued an order that every Kuwaiti citizen be granted 1000 Kuwaiti Dinar (US $3,599), totaling US $4 billion, as well as free basic foodstuffs for citizens carrying a ration card until the end of March 2012.
The grants marked the occasion of the country’s 50th independence anniversary, 20th liberation anniversary and next month’s 5th anniversary of Sheikh Sabah’s assumption of office.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz vowed to increase his country’s budget to achieve prosperity for the Saudi people. He called on the citizens to have patience, saying the objective was to “take care of any failures we were unaware of in the past.”
Syrian authorities issued instructions to increase subsidized home-heating fuel in an uncharacteristic change of policy reducing subsidized fuel in recent years.