On September 26, 2023, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a decree-law raising the public debt ceiling once again to reach 16 billion Bahraini dinars ($42.5 billion US dollars).

On May 30, 2023, the Bahraini parliament approved the country's general budget law for the fiscal years 2023-2024, amidst continued military spending and a record deficit.

In 2022, Bahrain's government amassed financial surpluses with the rise in oil prices, yet failed to implement measures to address the inflation's impact on citizens' livelihoods in a country where the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.

Based on financial analysis, the government in Bahrain has provided scraps to the country through meager bonuses approved by the MPs and Shura Council members in the meetings of the general budget draft.

The ruling family has not yet disclosed the real surpluses it has gained from the increase in oil prices, as well as the ways in which these surpluses have been disbursed, which have mostly gone to private pockets or budgets for refurbishing old helicopters.

The government, headed by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, approved the 2023 and 2024 budgets, and referred it to the House of Representatives for discussion and approval.

The United States announced a $350 million sale of military equipment and the refurbishing of helicopters and missile launchers to Bahrain.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy confirmed that as of December 2022, the total public debt amounted to about 16.7 billion dinars, equivalent to 101% of GDP in 2022.

he Finance Committee of the House of Representatives in Bahrain recommended not to approve the final account of the state for the year 2021, which includes all amounts of actual expenditures and revenues for that fiscal year.

It is difficult to know whether it is true that Bahrain recorded a deficit in the 2022 budget? How can the figures provided by the Government to the public be verified? Does anyone trust the statements of the Minister of Finance in the first place?

According to the report of the Financial and Administrative Oversight Bureau for the years 2021 and 2022, Bahrain's public debt and interest rates have reached catastrophic numbers. The report indicates that the government has turned Bahrain into a sick country addicted to debt and aid.

The big question remains in the minds of citizens: Why does the government of Bahrain continue to issue sukuk and borrow despite the high oil prices and the large amount of liquidity generated from the oil trade?

Isn't it time for the ruling family to give up some of its privileges? Why does the Al Khalifa family live a similar luxurious life to those of the ruling families in the Gulf when the country's wealth and resources do not allow Bahraini citizens to live like the rich people in the Gulf?

The Secretary-General of the General Federation of Workers Trade Unions in Bahrain (GFWTUB), Abdulqader Al-Shehabi, warned against the effects of proceeding in the policy of employing foreigners, indicating that the unemployment rate among Bahrainis eligible to work reached 20%.

The government is intending to borrow again from the domestic market by issuing development bonds worth 200 million dinars (half a billion dollars), despite the dramatic rise in oil prices.

Why is it that the Bahraini Finance Minister is talking about the state budget deficit while oil prices increased more than double the price set by the government?

The fate of about 1 billion dinars ($2.6 billion) from last year's budget remains unknown so far. Only the ruling family can answer where this large sum went.

Bahrain expects a significantly narrower budget deficit for the first half of 2022 due to high oil prices, Minister of Finance and National Economy Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said on Monday.

Bahrain's 2022 budget will record a surplus for the first time in 14 years, supported by the increasing crude oil prices, a Kuwaiti economic report predicted Sunday.

Opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif wondered why public debt is rising despite record high oil prices.