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Bahrain non-oil sector grows 4.2pc

MANAMA, January 18, 2016

Bahrain’s non-oil sector growth hit 4.2 per cent in the nine months leading up to December 2015, according to the latest Bahrain Economic Quarterly (BEQ) issued by the Economic Development Board.
 
The overall growth in the economy reached 2.4 per cent in the third quarter, while the non-oil growth totaled 3.3. per cent, it said.
 
The growth was driven by the continued resilience of the non-oil sector.
 
The performance was underpinned by robust performance across a number of sectors, which include hotels and restaurants, and the social and personal services (primarily private education and private healthcare) sectors were among the key drivers of growth within the non-oil economy for Q3, with a year-on-year growth rate of around eight per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively. 
 
Transportation and communications also saw strong growth of six per cent during the quarter, said the report.
 
The resilience of the non-oil sector, including the growing pipeline of infrastructure projects, helped to support job growth, with the total number of private sector jobs rising. 
 
Consistent with the positive momentum in job creation, overall unemployment declined to its lowest level in several years. The official unemployment rate held steady at 3.1 per cent in Q3.
 
The report also highlighted expectations of further growth in key sectors such as infrastructure, with nearly $6 billion worth of projects allocated, $3.7 billion tendered and $1.3 billion commenced to date. This will have a positive impact on the construction sector in the upcoming years.
 
In the banking sector, bank credit continued to grow at a brisk pace with total bank credit increasing by seven per cent as of the end of Q3.
 
Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive of the EDB, said: “We are very encouraged by the resilience of the Bahraini non-oil sector in spite of the challenges it faces. On a regional level, the GCC economies remain in expansionary mode and the non-oil growth drivers across the region remain resilient.
 
“The resilience that the economy has demonstrated has helped to reassure investors, highlighting the progress that Bahrain and the wider region have made in diversification and the long term economic strengths that have underpinned growth in recent years.” - TradeArabia News Service



Tags: Bahrain | growth | non-oil | sector |

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