Cabinet lauds royal visits to Saudi Arabia, Egypt

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has lauded His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s visit to Saudi Arabia, and his talks with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to Egypt and his meeting with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
The two royal visits affirm the existing joint coordination and keenness on exchanging opinions and consulting on various issues, especially those related to the region’s security and stability, HRH Premier said while chairing the regular weekly Cabinet session, at the Gudaibiya Palace today.
Tackling development issues, HRH Premier gave directives to include the needs of Duraz and its neighbouring villages within the executive list of the government’s projects and its development programmes, and requested the Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure to follow up on the matter, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said.
The Cabinet discussed the General State Budget for the two fiscal years, 2017-2018, the amendment of some existing laws and systems and the issuance of new legislation to regulate the collection of revenues and control expenditures, in accordance with the estimates set in the 2017-2018 budget.
The session agreed to refer the draft-law on approving the general state budget for the two fiscal years 2017-2018 to the Council of Representatives, along with a statement on the current financial and economic situation, according to the legal and constitutional procedures in force.
HRH the Prime Minister gave directives to ensure that the basic salary expenses, the annual increment paid to the citizens, the government’s support to Bahrainis who most need government subsidies, and the provision of basic services that top the interests of the citizens are not affected in the new budget.
The Prime Minister also issued instructions to carry on initiatives to diversify sources of income, and to reduce operational expenses in all ministries.
According to the draft budget law approved by the Cabinet, the estimated financial revenues in the fiscal year 2017 amount to about BD 2.2 billion, of which BD 1.7 billion are oil revenues and about BD 500 million are non-oil revenues. Public expenditure is estimated at BD 3.5 billion.
Regarding the 2018 budget, public revenues are expected to reach BD 2.3 billion, including BD 1.8 billion as oil revenues, and BD 560 million as non-oil revenues, while public expenditure is estimated at BD 3.5 billion.
The revenues were estimated on the basis of oil prices of $55 per barrel, while project expenditures for the fiscal years 2017-2018 were estimated at BD 350 million for each fiscal year.
The budget deficit is estimated at BD 1.3 billion in 2017, and BD 1.2 billion in 2018.
HRH the Prime Minister directed the ministries and government departments –each in their capacity- to spare no effort to enhance economic growth and diversify its revenue sources.
He also requested them to adopt general policies that achieve a balance between revenues and expenses in the general state budget during three budget cycles.
Ministries and state departments were also instructed to be committed to the budgets allocated to them, and not to make any financial commitments that exceed their approved budgets.
The session approved amending some supplementary legislation to the draft budget law concerning the issuance of development bonds and the Future Generations Fund.
The Cabinet tasked the Executive Committee with studying the implementation mechanisms of the Unified Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Excise Tax and Unified GCC Value Added Tax (VAT) treaties.
The Cabinet endorsed a project to improve the quality of treated water discharged in the Tubli Bay using advanced technology that allows self-cleaning of the bay, and contributes to reducing the odors emitting from gases.
The session approved the recommendation of the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure on the financing of the project.
The Cabinet was also informed, through a memorandum submitted by the Electricity and Water Affairs Minister on the Electricity and Water Affairs (EWA)’s preparations to face the requirements of the 3017 summer regarding the production, transmission and distribution of electricity and water.
The session also took note of the recently-inaugurated power transmission stations and ground cables to increase the reliability and efficiency of the electricity network, improve the quality of the services delivered to customers and be able to deal with power cuts immediately.
HRH the Prime Minister commended the efforts exerted by the Electricity and Water Affairs Minister and the staff of both Electricity and Water Affairs Ministry and the Electricity and Water Affairs Authority.

Source : Fana News