Bahrain Mirror: Minister of Finance Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said that the public debt has reached 9.1 billion BD until April and explained that the public debt constitutes 76% of the GDP for the year 2016.

Responding to MP Ahmad Qarata about his question regarding the total public debt of the Kingdom, Al Khalifa tackled the annual interest on burden of Bahrain to serve the public debt, indicating that the annual interests paid in the fiscal year 2016 reached 362 million BD.

He went on to say "the annual interests paid in the fiscal year 2016 did not exceed the amount set in the budget appropriations for the fiscal year that amounted to 390 million BD, according to what was approved in accordance with the legislative authority."

In response to Qarata's question whether the public debt ratio is acceptable according to international standards, the Finance Minister said "acceptable debt ratio level varies from a state to another, depending on several factors and circumstances related to the economic, monetary and financial aspects of each state, and on the importance of public debt ratio to GDP in measuring financial obligations on the state." In the same context, the minister said that the national economy continued to achieve sustained growth rates despite the financial challenges facing the public budget.

The minister stressed that all the measures and steps to control the public debt will be taken in the framework of ongoing cooperation and counsel with the legislative authority.

Arabic Version