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Business standstill hits Bahrain economy
Farah Halime
Apr 10, 2011

Billions of dollars have been wiped off the value of Bahrain’s economy in the month of protests that brought business there to a virtual standstill, top banking executives in Manama say.

“Definitely there is an impact on growth … but the impact cannot be more than 10 to 15 per cent impact of Bahrain’s GDP,” said Yousif Taqi, the chief executive of the sharia-compliant Al Salam Bank in Manama.

“As a financial centre there will be challenges for the government. I’d be surprised if it was more than 15 per cent.”

Mr Taqi estimated losses of at least US$3 billion (Dh11.01bn) from Bahrain’s GDP of $22.9bn last year. The Bahraini economy accelerated in the final quarter of last year from the previous three months, and grew 4.5 per cent for the whole year, data from the government showed.

The small oil exporter, which is not a member of Opec, grew 1.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, up from a revised 0.9 per cent rise in the third quarter.

Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Bahraini crown prince, said the kingdom’s economy had experienced “painful losses” worth hundreds of millions of dinars during the unrest.

In a speech on Bahraini TV last week, Sheikh Salman said the protests had “escalated beyond all limits”, forcing the security forces and government to step in.

“Bahrain’s progress and prosperity cannot be ruined by a few that wanted to make it fail,” he said. “The main challenge … is to work for the continuation of the process of building, modernising and development in this country.” …more