(Manama) – Finance Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa stressed the Government’s keenness on increasing income and reducing the gap between general revenues and spending – thus containing public debt.
He made the statement as he addressed the Shura Council, which discussed the draft law on the state budget for the fiscal years 2017-2018. He underlined the need to continue spending on main programmes in the backdrop of falling oil prices, stressing the necessity of exploring logical and rational solutions to deal with challenges.
“We have started implementing a string of financial initiatives and programmes which amounted to an overall BD800 million”, he said, stressing the need to pursue on this path and strike the balance between revenues and overall spending.
“We aspire to reduce the general deficit without impacting the economic growth negatively”, he said, adding that the policy adopted so far has spurred growth and averted any increase in the rate of unemployment. He stressed the necessity of developing the economic potential by using technology to enhance work and boost productivity, pointing out that projects worth $32 billion are in the pipeline in Bahrain.
