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Bahrain cuts spending by 30% to help battle coronavirus 

April 21, 2020 at 10:10 am

A view of an empty high street as part of coronavirus (COVID-19) measures in Manama, Bahrain on 2 April 2020 [Ayman Yaqoob/Anadolu Agency]

The Bahraini government yesterday announced a 30 per cent reduction in spending by ministries and government agencies as a precautionary measure amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The cabinet said in a statement that it would “reschedule a number of construction and consulting projects to make room for more emergency spending to help with the spread of the coronavirus within the ceiling of the 2020 national budget.”

It added that the government would also “suspend public investments in order to make room for social spending.” In addition, the cabinet issued some amendments to the labour code “to rethink allowances and benefits of public sector employees.”

Well-informed sources recently told Reuters that the kingdom had obtained a loan of about $1 billion to repay the maturing bonds due at the end of March. The move came after the Gulf state suspended its plans to issue international bonds due to “poor market conditions”.

Since appearing in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus has spread to at least 184 countries and regions. So far, at least 2,471,046 people worldwide have contracted the virus, of whom more than 170,096 have died; 644,589 have recovered, according to the US’ Worldometers. WHO has declared the crisis a pandemic.

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