Gudaibia Palace: With oil prices further dips to five year low, the Bahraini leadership assured its citizens that the revenue gaps won’t affect the living standards of Bahrainis, a senior Government official assured on Tuesday.
“The Government has envisioned a sustainable budget for the next four years and any shortfall, for example due to low oil prices, the gaps will be bridged through budgetary projects without affecting the ongoing development and standard of living of citizens,” Mohammad bin Ibrahim Al-Mutawa the Minister for Follow-up Affairs told a Press conference on Tuesday.
Al-Mutawa was joined by Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al Khalifa, Minister Finance; Kamal bin Ahmed, the Minister of Transportation and Communications and Isa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi Minister of Information Affairs and the Government’s Official Spokesperson.
The Ministers were responding to the questions on the Government Action Plan for 2015-19 which was presented in the Parliament by His Royal Highness Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on Tuesday.
“Low oil prices means, low income and in this case the government has to bridge the gap,” Al-Mutawa assured while answering the questions, adding the national budget has to be resilient and workable proposition.
The entire programme under the budget should be resilient and if there is any change in budget receipts or revenues, such should be addressed by the government, he added.
The upheaval in the oil prices remains unabated as prices touched the lowest ebb in the past five years, taking the breakeven oil prices, for example for Bahrain, further up to $134 per barrel.
Among the oil rich GCC, Bahrain and Oman are the worst hit economies by the low oil prices while rest of the four member states can cushion gaps through their record high reserves even the prices further slipped beyond $50 a barrel.
“The people in the Kingdom should not be worried about these international phenomenon like oil prices but one this the government can assure such burden should not be passed on to the people,” Isa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi Minister of Information Affairs and the Government’s Official Spokesperson told the Press conference.
The government has made it time and again clear that reforms which revolve around the development and progress will continue without any interruption, Al Hammadi, asserted.
The ministers outlined the strategic aims and goals of the GAP, which focuses on the six core priorities with sovereignty and rule of law tops the agenda and the government would continue to focus on this vital subject over the next four years.
The Government will take right steps by ensuring security which also includes strengthening security and stability and enhancing democratic institutions and further bolstering external relations with countries across the globe.
The second priority is the economy and finance by focusing and establishing a strong and diverse economy, and a stable financial and monetary system. This emphasis will be also on planning strategic programmes and allocating resources efficiently.
The four year GAP also emphasizes on human development and social services by ensuring the delivery of high quality services through decent living standards for all Bahrainis and enabling them to actively participate in the Kingdom’s development process.
In addition the focus will be on sustaining long term efforts to support the advancement of education, healthcare, housing, social welfare and labour market regulation.
There will be a focus on infrastructure and development in the GAP by meeting the current and future needs of all Bahrainis by providing high quality and safe infrastructure that helps achieve sustainable economic growth.
Environment and urban development includes ensuring the sustainable management of strategic resources in line with international standards to maintain a healthy environment for all.
Government performance should be gauged through enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of Government performance and enhancing communication to increase productivity of the public sector, in order to meet the needs of all Bahrainis.
The Ministers also announced that progress of the GAP will be routinely assessed against key performance indicators, as a core element of the Bahrain government budget, and against key elements of the UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda.
In their conclusions, the Ministers highlighted that one of the main priorities of the GAP is to ensure Bahrain maintains a strong and diverse economy and stable financial and monetary system which is resilient towards global economic challenges. They added that this would be achieved through increased public-private sector partnerships and a series of strategic programmes designed to invest in key resources and sectors that act as drivers for sustainable economic growth.