Despite a downgrade in Bahrain's sovereign rating by Moody's Investor Service yesterday, a senior official at the Ministry of Finance has said the Kingdom is committed to achieving steady growth.
"We remain fully confident of Bahrain's economy. It has weathered the financial crisis very well and the policies implemented by the government have maintained positive growth throughout. The policy of the diversification of our economy to enhance its resilience has, over the years, proven to be a well balanced strategy for growth. Bahrain remains committed to long term fiscal and economic sustainability and steady growth,"
Yousif A. Humood, Assistant Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, said yesterday.
Moody's downgraded Bahrain's sovereign rating yesterday citing the country's increasingly high price of oil needed to balance its budget.
The ratings agency in a statement also cited a negative outlook of the Kingdom's banking sector.
Moody's said Bahrain's break-even price for the benchmark Brent crude had climbed from $30 in 2004 to almost $80 per barrel in 2009.
© Bahrain Tribune 2010
