Bahrain's economy is likely to have a stronger recovery during the second half of 2011 as some sectors have already picked up economic activity, in particular manufacturing and to some extent the finance sector, according to an Economic Development Board (EDB) report. The EDB is launching within a few days its latest economic revision report, Bahrain Economic Quarterly for the third quarter of 2011.
The report has been issued periodically to reflect a transparent picture for Bahrain's economy, and give businessmen and investors a comprehensive and credible vision for the local economy.
The report, which is prepared by the Economic Planning and Development Department within the EDB, details a number of topics including a revision for the kingdom's current economic situation, dependence on oil and aluminium, housing and poverty.
Several sectors saw positive year-on-year growth in the second quarter including, electricity and water which grew by 17 percent, social and personal services by 13pc, transport and communications by 8.6pc, government services by around 5pc, manufacturing by almost 3pc and mining and quarrying by around 1pc.
The finance sector, which makes up around a quarter of Bahrain's GDP grew by 1.7pc compared to the same quarter last year. Within the sector local financial institutions and insurance grew by around 4pc, whereas offshore financial institutions shrank by 2.7pc.
Total outstanding loans increased by 1.4pc in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, after decreasing for two consecutive quarters due to increase in business loans by 3.4pc in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Bank deposits decreased by nearly BD400 million between March and June of 2011 (-3pc growth), with some signs of picking up in July.
Several sectors, on the other hand, saw negative year-on-year growth for the period, including, hotels and restaurants by 17.4pc with hotels in particular seeing a sharp decrease of 29pc, agriculture and fishing by 7pc with agriculture 8pc, and 27pc for fishing, real estate and business activities by 5pc, and construction by 7pc, which has been facing some recovery challenges since the global financial crisis.
