Poor planning raises Bahrain debt : MP

Manama : A Bahraini lawmaker claimed yesterday that the country’s public debt ceiling has increased by 180 per cent during the past five years due to poor planning.

“The absence of a legal public debt ceiling in Bahrain is risking downgrading the credit rating of the country from B to B negative,” said Parliament’s Economic and Financial Affairs Committee member Ahmed Qarata yesterday.

“The National Audit Office report for the years 2014-2015 showed numerous violations. Several violations were related to the construction of Bahrain Investment Wharf. The concerned Ministry of establishing the wharf did not study the matter from technical, financial, economic, social and environmental aspects. This poor planning resulted in not achieving the development of the industrial sector that was expected ahead of implementing the project, including creating 20 to 30 jobs,” Qarata added.

The MP alleged that the budget allocated for implementing projects in the same period was BD848 million, while only BD477 million was spent, with a percentage of 56pc.

“Where did these amounts go? How long will we borrow money to only finance the deficit in the budget? Why borrow money that we will not benefit from? Why borrow more than what we need? Does the government have a plan to decrease the public debt?,” Qarata asked.

“As parliamentarians we should have questioned Ministers and publicly discussed the matter. However, since the Cabinet was reshuffled last December and new Ministers were appointed, the council’s bylaws prevent us from questioning Ministers for actions done by the previous Minister in charge,” he added.