Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's public debt reached 11.29 billion dinars in the first half of this year, while the Central Bank of Bahrain has not announced any new issuances of foreign bonds this year, according to the latest data published on its website. 

The public debt was around 11.45 billion dinars at the end of 2018, which constitutes to 80.4% of GDP. However, with new figures, the public debt fell to about 79.3% of GDP by the end of June.

The decrease came significantly from the balance of Islamic leasing instruments, which were about 2.54 billion dinars by the end of 2018 and decreased to 2 billion dinars in the first half of this year. Government officials said earlier that Bahrain may head to the international lending market later this year. It seems that the Federal Reserve's move to further cut interest rates gives authorities the opportunity to obtain lower-cost financing as the United States is reported to be determined to cut interest rates that help Bahrain obtain lower-priced financing. 

Arabic Version