‘Best finance minister’ honour for Shaikh Salman

‘The Financial Times’ magazine ‘The Banker’ has conferred on Minister of Finance and National Economy Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa the Best Minister of Finance in the Middle East Award 2020. The honour is in recognition of the minister’s contribution to boosting the financial and economic situation in Bahrain by following up on the implementation of Fiscal Balance Programme which was launched in October 2018 and aims to balance between the government’s expenditure and revenues by 2022.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has adopted many policies aimed at decreasing expenditure and increasing revenues while maintaining implementation of development programmes to reach forecast goals and back up the national economy. The initiatives led to a drop in deficiency by 37.8 per cent in the first semester of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. This shows perpetual growth of the national economy in parallel with the Fiscal Balance Programme through continuous efforts to lure investments, provide more quality opportunities and achieve the sustainable development goals.

The award is granted annually by the Banker magazine to the Ministers of Finance in the Middle East according to various high-level criteria. The magazine is considered one of the most important financial publications in the world. Shaikh Salman described the Best Minister of Finance in the Middle East Award 2020, which was bestowed on him by the Banker, owned by the Financial Times, as an honour to the dedicated efforts and teamwork exerted by the legislative and executive branches as well as the private sector.

“The true prize is the honour of serving His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier”, he said.

He extended thanks to all the staff of the Finance and National Economy Ministry, hailing their efforts and achievements for the nation, which reflects their pivotal role on all levels. He pledged that the ministry would continue dedicated work and varied initiatives towards supporting the national economy and consolidating Bahrain’s competitiveness on the global economic map