Finance Minister participates in 5th Annual Fiscal Forum

Manama, Nov. 23 (BNA): Minister of Finance and National Economy, Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, has affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain has placed citizens’ interests and the supreme national interest above anything else when dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He said the kingdom has been keen to confront all challenges resulting from the pandemic in a way to achieve balance between public health and supporting the national economy. He added many precautionary measures were taken to combat the virus and protect public health, thanks to the efforts of Bahrain taskforce, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The Minister of Finance and National Economy was speaking during his participation in the 5th Annual Fiscal Forum, held jointly by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on macroeconomic development and its prospects. The forum was held remotely today with the participation of Arab Ministers of Finance, Central Banks Governors, the AMF Director General and Board Chairman Dr. Abdulrahman bin Abdullah, the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and the specialized team in confronting coronavirus (COVID-19). Addressing the “Developments and Prospects of the Macroeconomy” session, the Minister of Finance and National Economy noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain had put in place a preemptive plan before detection of the first case of COVID-19. He pointed out the kingdom’s flexible strategy which enabled it to deal with all phases of the pandemic and ramp up efforts to curtail the spread of the virus by following the “tracking, examination and treatment” strategy. He noted that Bahrain has achieved one of the highest rates of daily examinations per one thousand persons which won the praise of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Minister of Finance and National Economy pointed out the kingdom’s swift financial response to support the economic sectors by launching a financial and economic package consisting of 20 initiatives worth over BD 4.5 billion, the equivalent of %32 of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He said the aim was to inject liquidity into the private sector and protect the individuals and institutions. He noted that the package included several initiatives, the most important of which is ensuring that the salaries of citizens working in private sector companies are fully paid in the first three months of the pandemic, followed by 50% support for workers in the affected private sector companies, and, then, 50% support for workers in the private sector companies mostly affected by the pandemic, until the end of the year. The minister further explained that the government also took charge of the electricity and water bills for all individual and corporate subscribers and increased the lending capacity of banks in order to give them the flexibility to deal with the customers' requests to postpone installments or for additional funding. In addition, the size of the liquidity fund was doubled to BD 200 million and the programmes of the Labour Fund (tamkeen) were reoriented to companies affected by the current conditions caused by the pandemic. The Minister of Finance and National Economy pointed out the importance of international cooperation to reinvigorate the global economy, in light of the financial and economic repercussions caused by COVID-19. He urged to work out innovative solutions to achieve the sustainable development goals, finance the private sector and create more job opportunities so as to achieve financial sustainability at the local and regional level. He stressed the importance of using technology and digitization to achieve economic recovery as well as implement all development plans and harmonize them for the public and private sectors. The forum cast light on the main regional and international economic developments and the future vision to surmount all challenges triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. It also called to provide immediate support to human development and improving social conditions by mapping out structural reforms, including mainly boosting flexibility of the labour market to enhance employment and prevent loss of jobs.