Bahrain's economy has returned to a solid growth path after last year's unrest, Central Informatics Organization (CIO) said. On an annual basis, real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 4.3 per cent in the second quarter after a 5.9pc jump in January-March. The statistics office said these figures showed the economy had returned to a solid growth path after last year's uprising, which temporarily forced banks and shops to close and triggered an outflow of funds.
Balanced fiscal and monetary policy
"Bahrain's balanced fiscal and monetary policy helped economic growth and fiscal stability, enabling the economy to face the challenges and local disturbances and foreign financial crises that remain," it said.
"By containing the negative effects of the regrettable events of February 2011, interest has returned to the positive aspects of the local economy… The attention that was focused on the country in the past year has softened and things have returned to normal."
Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, dropped 1.3pc quarter-on-quarter in April-June compared with 0.9pc growth in the previous quarter, the figures from the CIO showed.
The quarterly decline is the first since a 6.6pc slump in the first three months of 2011.
Output in the hydrocarbon sector, which accounts for almost a third of Bahrain's roughly $28 billion economy, fell 7.7pc quarter-on-quarter during April-June after a 13.9pc slide in the previous quarter, the data showed.
Other sectors directly dependent on investor confidence also slowed. Financial corporations' output decreased 1.2pc, worse than a 0.4pc fall in the first quarter. The construction sector shrank 0.7pc quarter-on-quarter after a 10.2pc jump in January-March.
"Real growth was expected to be strong in the second quarter of 2012," noted Monica Malik, chief economist at investment bank EFG-Hermes in Dubai.
"We do see the overall economic activity improving with increased investment and government spending, although we expect the rate to slow in the second half of 2012."
Gulf Daily News
3 September
