The Council of Ministers has approved the ninth Five Year Plan (2016-20) and the 2016 State Budget.
In a meeting held on Tuesday the Council also reviewed replies of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council and the Supreme Council for Planning on two topics.
The Council of Ministers also approved a number of measures aimed at addressing the impact of the slump in oil prices. These include cutting down government spending, developing non-oil revenues by raising taxes on profits of companies and revising and raising fees payable against some government services, as well as revising the prices of petroleum products (oil products) in a manner that corresponds to global prices with effect from mid-January 2016.
To lessen the impact of these measures, the Council instructed the Public Authority for Consumer Protection to intensify its monitoring of prices to avoid unjustifiable hikes.