The local Bahraini Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspaper that has close ties with the Prime Minister said that hundreds of Bahrainis working in the banking sector have lost their jobs in the past few months due to the international economic situation.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Moody's Investors Service has cut its outlook for the debt ratings of Saudi Arabia and three other Gulf states while lowering Bahrain's rating to junk, citing concern over the impact of low oil prices on their finances.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): The Bahrain government has cancelled a $750 million bond sale after Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating of the kingdom to junk status.

Bahrain Mirror: The Government of Bahrain canceled a bond offering in the wake of a Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the nation's sovereign debt.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Bahrain said on Wednesday that it was talking with the lead managers of its latest sovereign debt offer after Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Oman's credit ratings on Wednesday, in its second mass cut of large oil producers in almost exactly a year.

Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain has announced that is set to establish a distribution centre for Russian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the region, and made an agreement with Moscow to import this product.

Bahrain Mirror: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that the fiscal deficit of the Bahraini government would reach approximately 15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during 2016, with the drop of oil prices to lowest rate since 12 years.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): The International Monetary Fund on Friday (January 29, 2016) urged Bahrain to take "sizable" steps to reduce its growing budget deficit as slumping oil prices have sharply reduced exports and government revenues.

Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Diplomatic tensions are causing airlines in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Bahrain to lose millions of dollars in revenue at a time when all three countries are grappling with the economic impact of lower oil prices

The local Bahraini Al-Wasat newspaper said that the government recently “replaced the vehicles of a number of ministers with new 2016 BMWs.”

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.

Poultry Producers Co-Operative Society raised a memorandum to Delmon Poultry Company and another to the Department of Agriculture in the Bahraini Ministry of Works and Municipalities Affairs on behalf of 35 owners of poultry farms to demand reevaluating the price of chicken which the company purchases from them.

Bahrain Mirror: The local Bahraini Al-Wasat newspaper said that a number of Bahraini sailors brought forth a complaint at the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, stating that they are being affected by the governmental decision to raise fuel prices which increased their expenses by 40%.

Bahrain Mirror: The Head of Al-Wefaq Society's Political Department Abduljalil Khalil stressed that Mumtalakat Co. which comprises of around 40 Bahraini companies contributes only USD 50 million to the state budget.

The former Secretary-General of the Nationalist Democratic Society, the economic researcher Hassan Al-Aali considered that the real cause of the economic crisis “is the failure that lasted for four decades, since the rise of oil prices and the failure of diversifying the sources of income and state budget.

The Deputy Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq, Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi, said: “We heard for years that our economy is strong and it would not be affected, suddenly the citizens discovered that they were deceived and should pay the price of this failure.”

The leader of Bahrain’s main opposition group, Al-Wefaq Secretary-General Sheikh Ali Salman, said that “the deterioration of the economic situation in the country is a result of rejecting political reform.”

Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets on Friday (January 15, 2016) to express their opposition to the government policy of lifting subsidies on the basic commodities and services and depriving the families of political prisoners from social assistance.

In a statement, Bahrain’s clerics described what the government has committed by lifting subsidies on meat, raising gasoline prices and promising to raise tariffs of electricity, water and other life necessities as “targeting citizens in the necessities of their life and restricting their livelihood.”