Gudaibiya Palace: The Cabinet in its weekly session has approved the consolidated accounts worth BD6.63 billion for the year 2014 which to be submitted to the National Audit Court.
The Government’s consolidated final state account indicated that the actual revenues had reached about BD 3.09 billion, marking an increase of 11% compared with estimates, while the actual expenditures reached BD 3.54 billion, 11% below the estimates. It also showed that the actual deficit was by BD 455 million, which is 62% below the estimated deficit.
The cabinet has praised the participation of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in the 15th Consultative Summit of the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, held recently in Riyadh, under the chairmanship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in the presence of the French President Francois Hollande.
The Cabinet underscored the importance of the GCC Consultative Meeting in affirming cooperation in maintaining regional security and stability, solidarity in confronting threats to the member states, and keenness on protecting the GCC entity through enhancing joint action.
Chaired at the Gudaibiya Palace on Monday by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the cabinet welcomed the outcomes of the GCC Summit and its communiqué.
Following the session, the Secretary-General of the Cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser stated that the cabinet had affirmed that the Kingdom had succeeded in achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and that it is doing its utmost to move to the Post-2015 Development Agenda in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
This can be achieved through an integrated process based on capacity-building, transfer of technology and involvement of all social segments in the development progress.
The Cabinet praised the results of the second High-Level Arab Forum on Sustainable Development, hosted by the Kingdom recently under the patronage of HRH the Prime Minister, who deputised Deputy Premier Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa to open it.
Reviewing a report presented by the Social Development Minister on the second High-Level Arab Forum, the cabinet lauded the “Bahrain Document” issued by the forum, and which will be submitted to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to be held at the UN headquarters in New York.
HRH Premier called for maintaining the Kingdom’s leading role in implementing decisions aiming to enhance joint GCC action through adopting the required legislative and executive mechanisms to translate the resolutions of the GCC Supreme Council on the ground.
Commenting on a report submitted by the Minister of Parliament Affairs on the 13th meeting of the GCC committee on following up on the implementation of joint GCC action resolutions, HRH Premier voiced satisfaction over the kingdom’s achievements in this regard.
The session also reviewed the Consolidated Final State Account for 2014, and approved a report on the implementation of the state budget for the fiscal year 2014. It requested the concerned sides to finalise the required procedures in order to refer the Consolidated Final State Account to the legislative branch.
HRH Premier directed ministries and government departments to be committed to the funds allocated for them within the budget, stressing that no ministry or state government side is allowed to exceed the allocated budget unless the cabinet approves it.
The session also approved to allocate a budget to establish youth centres, sports facilities, culture halls and stadiums to meet the needs of the youth in the Quraya, Bouri, Damistan and Janabiya villages in the Northern Governorate. It tasked the Youth and Sport Affairs Minister with coordinating with the Urban Planning Affairs at the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning regarding the acquisition of the necessary land lots.
The cabinet also endorsed a draft law on Limited Investment Partnerships, and requested the relevant sides to take the necessary constitutional and legal procedures in order to refer the bill to the legislative branch.
The bill paves the way for building investment partnerships between the existing entities, whether public or private companies, and sets legal rules and provisions that regulate their relations.
On energy, the cabinet reviewed a memorandum presented by the Minister of Energy on the work plan of the Bahrain Unit for Sustainable Energy for 2015-2016, and referred it to the Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure for further study.