Bahrain Mirror: A report issued by Securities & Investment Company (SICO) Bahrain, mentioned that Bahrain's debts by next year (2017) is expected to reach $808 million, at the time when the country's public debt increased to more than $20 billion during the first half of this year (2016).

In its October report over "The GCC Economies: Bahrain's indebtedness and the upsurges expected to be achieved in the programs aiming at lowering government subsidies and reducing spending levels", SICO indicated a number of indicators related to the indebtedness and deficit in the public budget.

SICO noted that it's "expected for Bahrain's total owed debts to remain within the level of 60% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2016", according to governmental estimates.

It also added that the "upcoming external debts that Bahrain would have to pay off in 2018, are approximately $808 million."

Moreover, SICO noted in its report that in the past 4 years (2011 - 2015), interest spending paid by Bahrain witnessed an increase by 24%, alongside an annual growth of $714 million (269.5 million Bahraini Dinars), which represents around 13% of the government's revenues in 2015.

The report expected that measures to reduce financial cost would lead to financial savings up to $488.6 million in 2016, and $1.68 billion in 2021 onwards.

At the end of the first half of 2016, the total debt owed by Bahrain, which includes external and domestic debts, amounted to $20.3 billion, of which $11.1 billion are in Bahraini dinars, and $9.2 billion are in foreign currencies. According to SICO's report, most of the borrowings owed by Bahrain are mainly international Islamic leasing bonds and international bonds. (Note: The external debt is part of the country's debt granted by foreign entities, including commercial banks, governments and international financial institutions).

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