Bahrain has no timescale for implementing fuel price rises announced late last year even though its public finances are under increasing pressure, said a top official.

The National Oil and Gas Authority said in December that it would gradually raise the domestic selling price for diesel fuel, almost doubling it by 2017, in order to reduce a heavy subsidy burden on state finances.

"The plan was approved but now no one knows when it will be implemented," Shura Council deputy chairman Jamal Fakhro was quoted as saying in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"Even though the subsidy plan is for diesel and not petrol that's used in cars, it's not something that will be accepted by the public and that's something the government doesn't want to deal with,” Fakhro said on the sidelines of an industry event in Doha. – TradeArabia News Service