Bahrain’s two-year draft budget for 2013-14 projects total revenue at BD5.578bn ($14.83bn) – comprising BD2.788bn for 2013 and BD2.790bn for 2014 – and total expenditure at BD6.993bn ($18.60bn) – comprising BD3.445bn for 2013 and BD3.543bn for 2014. The resulting deficits are estimated to be BD657mn for 2013 and BD753mn for 2014. Total revenue for 2013-14 will rise by 20.3% over 2011-12, while total expenditure for 2013-14 will increase by 12.8% over the two previous years.
Announcing the budget figures, the Undersecretary of the Bahrain Ministry of Finance ‘Arif Khamis said the budget oil price assumption for the two years is $90/B up from $80/B in 2011-12. But to balance the budget, Mr Khamis said that Bahrain would need an oil price of $122/B for 2013 and $126/B in 2014. On the revenue side, oil income is projected at BD4.811bn ($12.80bn) for the two-year period, while non-oil revenue is put at BD767mn ($2.04bn). The expenditure allocation for the ordinary budget is BD5.908bn ($15.72bn) while development expenditure has been set at BD1.080bn ($2.87bn) for the two-year period. The budget is projected to have a deficit of BD657mn ($1.75bn) in 2013 and BD753mn ($2.0bn) in 2014, representing 6.1% and 6.6% of GDP respectively. (CONTINUED - 337 WORDS)
