Bahrain Mirror: The increase in petrol prices after a decision issued by the Oil and Gas Authority on Monday (January 8, 2018) angered the citizens and residents in Bahrain.

Local Akhbar Al-Khaleej newspaper said that the decision to increase petrol prices in Bahrain "adds more burdens to the Bahraini household head, as gasoline expenses use up 17% of the a household's income of a person working in the private sector and 13% of the income of that working in the public sector. If a household owns 3 vehicles and the average spending of petroleum for a vehicle is 10 BD per week, at the end of each month, the spending would reach 40 BD per vehicle, thus, the monthly cost would reach 120 BD."

These calculations come based on official data confirming that every two individuals in Bahrain own one vehicle (700,000 vehicles recorded until 2016). Since the average family members amount to 6, each family owns at least 3 vehicles.

Most Bahrainis work in private sectors, the total national workforce in the sector at the end of fourth third of 2017 reached 91,000 out of 145,000 Bahrainis workers, which constitutes about 63% of the total national workforce. The average monthly salary in the private sector reaches 712 BD and 900 BD in the public sector.

Arabic Version