Sunday, Jul 03, 2011
(This item was originally published on Saturday.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Bahrain's gross domestic product is expected to grow 3% in 2011, the Central Bank of Bahrain said Saturday.
According to a press release, CBB Governor Rasheed Al Maraj praised the projections in an interview with the Bahrain News Agency and denied rumors that international banks had left Bahrain during recent unrest in the country.
"The [central] bank has issued eight licenses [for new financial institutions] since the beginning of the year and we deal with any request that meets the required conditions without delay," Maraj said.
Al Maraj also said in the interview he expects interest rates to remain stable and announced an 11.5% increase in the CBB's gold and hard currency reserves to $4.5 billion.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-07-11 0404GMT
