Bahrain Mirror: Member of the finance and Economic Affairs Committee Ahmed Qarata expected that the state's public debt of the two fiscal years (2017 and 2018) would be referred to the House of Representatives at the end of March 2017, adding that the debt would be about 2 billion BD to each fiscal years; i.e. 4 billion BD to the two fiscal years. Meanwhile, committee's member Ali Bufersen considered that the delay in referring and approving the budget harm the government's program.

Qarata told Al-Wefaq local newspaper: "Beautiful days are over, Bahrain is to witness lean years", especially in the absence of a clear policy to diversify sources of income.

Asking him about the delay in referring the budget to the legislative authority, Qarata mentioned that there are amendments made on the draft budget aiming at decreasing the deficit and reducing the debt ratios of the government projects, assuring that there are fears of instability in oil prices.

Qarata criticized the government "for not resorting to solutions to diversify income sources and increasing revenues in the general budget when it started increasing taxes on citizens and lifting subsidies on some services and commodities."

He added that the oil prices decreased 3 years ago and the government did not take measures at that time to diversify the sources' incomes.

According to Article 109 "The Government shall prepare the draft overall annual budget of State revenue and expenditure and present it to the Chamber of Deputies at least two months before the end of the financial year, for debate and referral to the Consultative Council to consider it in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Any amendment can be introduced into the budget with the agreement of the Government."

"If the Budget Law is not promulgated before the beginning of the financial year, the previous budget shall be adhered to until the law's promulgation, and revenue shall be collected and expenditure disbursed in accordance with the laws in force at the end of that year," the article explained.

For its part, MP Bufersen said that not adopting a budget on the scheduled time is considered a violation to the law. It also "hinders the governmental project and it is not of favor of any citizen."

He said that the committee has no clear and direct information about the date of referring the budget to the legislative authority, adding that the committee is working on finishing some projects and suggestions referred to it in order to discuss the draft budget as soon as it receives it.

Bufersen stated that they are now discussing a suggestion that prevents ministers from imposing any fees on the citizens without the consent of the legislative authority.

He further stated that each week they are promised to receive a budget, however, the week passes without submitting it.

Ghanim Al-Buainain, Minister for Shura Council and House of Representatives Affairs of Bahrain, told the MPs in the session held on Tuesday (November 29, 2016) "the state's public debt for 2017 and 2018 is ready and will be handed to the House of Representatives in the coming days. There is an attempt to amend the budget because the increase in deficit affects Bahrain's classification in front of the global financial institutions."

Arabic Version