Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has ordered a grant of KD1,000 ($3,599) and free food for 13 months to every Kuwaiti citizen.

The decision was announced by the cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwait News Agency said.

The grant, which will benefit 1.12 million Kuwaitis, will cost about $4 billion to the exchequer.

The cabinet assigned the ministry of finance to take necessary steps to disperse the grant, which reflected the ruler's keenness to helping citizens overcome their living conditions, Minister of state for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan Al-Roudhan said in a statement after the government meeting.

The food rations will be offered for free between February 1, 2011 and March 31, 2013.

The grants marked the occasion of the 50th independence anniversary, 20th liberation anniversary and 5th anniversary of Sheikh Sabah's assumption of office, due next month.

The 2.4 million foreign residents of Kuwait are excluded from the grant and the free food. - TradeArabia News Service