Bahrain State Budget 2021-22 discussed

Bahrain State Budget 2021-22 discussed

Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy

The Kingdom of Bahrain's Ministry of Finance and National Economy discussed the 2021-22 State Budget in the national parliament, gaining approval of the Council of Representatives.



Upon submission to parliament, the Ministry of Finance and National Economy highlighted the government's unprecedented efforts to mitigate the effects of lower oil prices and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.



Cross-government success in tightly controlling recurrent government expenditure (excluding emergency spend) was emphasised, which was BHD 63Mn under budget in 2020.



The Ministry also emphasised the government's unwavering commitment to the Fiscal Balance Program's targets. Past reforms implemented under the Program include a government-wide spending review, the creation of spending efficiency taskforces, the roll-out of a voluntary retirement scheme for public sector workers and the implementation of VAT.



The Ministry underlined that strong economic growth projections - 5% for 2021 - demonstrated Bahrain's underlying competitiveness and strong economic fundamentals, which will provide the foundations for fiscal recovery in the near- and medium-terms.



The State Budget's fiscal results and projections for 2021 - 2022 show the Ministry expects total revenues to reach BHD 2,406Mn in 2021 and BHD 2,457Mn in 2022,