A set of final recommendations on the new two-year national budget has been put forward by a joint committee of Shura Council members and MPs in Bahrain.

The recommendations include increasing the Housing Ministry’s budget by BD100 million ($263.3 million) both this year and next in a bid to speed up projects, as well as allocating more money to the Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry, the Youth and Sport Affairs Ministry and the National Institution for Human Rights, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

They were the result of a 10-hour meeting between parliament and the Shura Council’s financial and economic affairs committees and Housing Minister Bassem Al Hamer, Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Essam Khalaf and Youths and Sports Affairs Minister Hesham Al Jowder, which was held yesterday at the National Assembly in Gudaibiya and finished at 8pm.

Shura Council members and MPs repeated their calls for the government not to cut subsidies – a message they intend to reiterate to Finance Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa when they meet him on Sunday.

A special Shura Council meeting, headed by council chairman Ali Al Saleh, will be held today where members will be given a presentation by the financial and economic affairs joint committee co-chairman and head negotiator Khalid Al Maskati.

“We have outlined our final recommendations and how we want the budget to look with people coming first,” joint committee co-chairman Isa Al Kooheji told the GDN.

“This means that subsidies, direct or indirect, will not be touched in any way or form, unless we accept reasonable solutions.

“Support schemes for the disabled and pensioners will be improved, as well as those for disadvantaged families and Bahrainis in general.

“This is one aspect, but we are also concerned about giving the public better facilities and services – and for that we have to concentrate on vital infrastructure, and the budget for youth and sports.”

Al Kooheji said discussions with the housing minister had revealed that additional financing was required in order for the ministry to complete its pending projects.

“It has plans for social housing, with major towns such as Northern, Al Louzy, Diyar, Al Ramli and the Southern Town, among other new government homes,” said Al Kooheji.  

Nothing extra had to be spent to achieve this, Al Kooheji asserted – claiming that the government could cut back on “huge unnecessary recurrent expenditure spent mainly on administrative matters and unneeded projects”.

“People are not concerned in the first place with recurrent expenditure and it is not that important since it doesn’t touch them and will not make a difference on provided services,” he said.

“Some ministries are being allocated huge amounts for projects, but the maximum they have spent is 60 per cent of what has been allocated, so these additional funds should be transferred to other ministries that are in actual need.”

Bahrain’s National Assembly also made drastic changes to the proposed budget last week.

In those proposals spending on housing was to be increased by BD240 million while the government’s recurring expenditure would have been reduced by BD850 million.

MPs and Shura Council members also wanted the government to reduce financial support to national carrier Gulf Air by BD60 million and increase social allowances for pensioners by BD30 a month and for the disabled to BD200.

The financial and economic affairs committees of parliament and Shura Council agreed on five core changes to the budget to prevent the government from axing subsidies, which include meat, and electricity and water, and oil. - TradeArabia News Service