Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa urged the Parliament to "assume its responsibility amid these difficult conditions to overcome all the obstacles," in reference to the economic challenges emerging from falling oil prices.

During a visit he paid to the Parliament on Monday (January 25, 2015), Khalifa bin Salman "stressed that maintaining the kingdom's top interests should be the ultimate goal, urging concerted efforts to ensure the success of the government's orientations."

Bahrain mainly depends on oil revenues since the government, headed by Khalifa bin Salman, for over 40 years, failed to diversify income sources,

The PM pointed out that the government's decision to lift subsidies on meat, fuel and energy "were imposed due to economic developments and challenges that all the countries and the region are facing as a result of the drop in oil prices in global markets, in addition to the tensions and political, security and military challenges in the region."

The ruling family in Bahrain has chosen to confront the popular calls for democratic transition with security choices that exhausted the state budget, besides its engagement in the Saudi-led coalition that launched a war on Yemen

Economic researcher Hassan Al-Aali revealed that "880 million of frequent expenses, representing 45% of the budget, goes to the budgets of the Ministries of Defense, Interior and National Security. If a political solution was found, we could get rid of all these military expenses."

Arabic Issue