Bahrain Mirror: The government objected to a parliamentary proposal to impose fees on remittances abroad, estimated at 2.5 billion dinars annually.

The government said that the implementation of such a proposal would have significant damages on the economy in general, and the banking and trade sector in particular, according to al-Ayam newspaper. It noted that "imposing the fees is a form of control over the free flow of capital, which would restrict financial transactions. this directly contradicts with the Kingdom of Bahrain's policy as an economy that is free and open to international trade and investments without restrictions, whether administrative or through imposed fees."

Moreover, the government added, "Given the financial circumstances of countries in the region because of the collapse in oil prices, the currencies of regional countries have become continuously exposed for speculation due to the expectations of financial reserves declination. Therefore, any action affecting the core of monetary policy or restricting the freedom of money movement will have a direct negative impact on the official exchange rate. It will also subject the country to the risk of speculations increase against the dinar. This might come at a time when we need the stability of these indexes to confirm confident in the dinar financial transactions."

Arabic Version