The new board of directors of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), with Qassim Mohammed Fakhro as chairman, held its first meeting, yesterday (January 7).

The seven-member board was formed on December 26, 2007, following a royal decree issued by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The decree appointed Fakhro as chairman and Hameed Salman Al Sairafi as deputy chairman.

The other members of the board are Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Yousuf Abdulla Humood, Dr Zakaria Hejris, Mohammed Hussain Yateem, and Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

The new board members thanked His Majesty the King for the confidence reposed in them and expressed their gratitude for the support of prime minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The board also thanked the Prime Minister for his distinguished and dedicated service as the previous chairman of the Bahrain Monetary Agency, the predecessor organisation of the CBB, and pledged to continue his vision of Bahrain as the leading international financial centre in the region.

The board discussed in detail a report on the performance of the CBB during 2007 and expressed satisfaction with and encouraged the CBB to continue its efforts in implementing a sound monetary policy and improving corporate governance in banks and other financial institutions.

The board also discussed important projects undertaken by the CBB and also approved the CBB budget for 2008. – TradeArabia News Service