A US Navy spokesman has denied reports that civilian employees in Bahrain could lose their jobs as part of defence budget cuts.

The cuts, worth $85 billion, have taken effect since Friday and will involve millions of workers globally going on temporary unpaid leave, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN).

An incorrect report in yesterday's GDN suggested they would also result in around 100 employees at the US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, losing their jobs.

However, Fifth Fleet spokesman Commander Jason Salata said this was not true - although he added they could be asked to take an extra day off a week unpaid from April to September.

"Civilian employees working at Fifth Fleet may be impacted by US Defence Department budget cuts as a result of sequestration," he said.

"That impact would be limited to a one-day furlough per week starting in April and continuing through the end of September."

He explained that the civilian employees would still be employed.

"The civilian employees are not being fired; they will still be employed here," he said. – TradeArabia News Service