Bahrain central bank chief on Monday met the retail bank heads to discuss ways to help businesses, mainly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), affected during the recent unrest.

Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) move comes following a call by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to provide support to the various economic sectors to mitigate any negative impact from the recent political situation.

CBB governor Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj asked the retail banks to find out ways to reduce the financial burdens of these businesses and help them overcome their difficulties.

Soon after the meeting, Al Maraj said the banks had promised all help in this regard and had shown willingness to co-operate with customers to reschedule or restructure any facilities if needed to help them with their businesses.

He also reiterated the CBB's readiness to co-operate with all banks to ensure the continuity of banking operations to all economic sectors and individuals as this was key to Bahrain’s economic growth.-TradeArabia News Service