Bahrain Economy

Bahrain has moved forward with plans to improve national infrastructure as part of its economic development strategy, announcing a series of tenders relating to the upgrade and expansion of the country’s airport.

The number of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operating in the GCC has grown in the decade to 2017. The value of these SWFs – created to invest and manage the huge sums of money flowing into the region from hydrocarbons sales – stood at $2.9trn in March 2017, according to the SWF Institute (SWFI), representing 38.5% of the global total.

For much of its history, Bahrain was the name for the eastern coast of Arabia. Bahrain means “two seas” in Arabic, and although it is unclear which two seas the name refers to, it has recently come to identify the 33 natural islands of the Awal archipelago.

Bahrain has always been one of the more connected centres of the Gulf. It has been a vibrant entrepôt for millennia, boasting a maritime history dating back to the commercial traffic that once plied the waters between ancient Mesopotamia and the civilizations of the Indus valley. Its geographic location has resulted in a particularly close...

Economic diversification has been a strategic priority for GCC finance ministries for decades, and the recent decline in oil prices has only served to underscore the importance of hydrocarbons-driven economies reducing their dependence on oil and gas to ensure their long-term economic stability. Much of the momentum behind this process in the...

A combination of factors has led to a rise in bond issuance from GCC members in 2016. Across the year, bonds and sukuk (Islamic bonds) issued in the GCC hit $66.5bn, more than doubling the $27.6bn total issued in 2015, and rivalled only by the $60.9bn issued during 2009. A $17.5bn historic bond sale from Saudi Arabia accounted...