DUBAI: Bahrain’s foreign reserves have more than halved since the end of 2014 as low oil prices slash the value of the country’s exports, the prospectus for the kingdom’s sovereign bond issue this week shows.
The central bank of Bahrain has not published its monthly monetary statistics bulletin since June 2015. It has not responded to requests for comment on why it halted publication.
That leaves bond prospectuses as a key source of data on the kingdom. The government has been increasing its debt issues to finance a budget deficit caused by cheap oil, and on Tuesday it sold $1 billion of seven-year Islamic bonds and $1 billion of 12-year conventional bonds.
Gross foreign reserves held by the central bank, including gold, shrank to $2.78 billion on June 30 this year from $3.39 billion at the end of last year and $6.06 billion in 2014, the Islamic bond prospectus showed.
At the end of 2014, reserves were worth 3.7 months of Bahrain’s imports, the prospectus said. That implies reserves have now dropped well below 90 days of import cover, a level traditionally considered by many economists to be at the bottom of a country’s comfort zone.
Bahrain’s current account balance, which includes trade in goods and services, fell into a $79 million deficit last year from a $1.52 billion surplus in 2014, the prospectus showed.
Despite the falling reserves, this week’s bond issues attracted a healthy combined order book of over $7 billion, and the Bahraini dinar, which is pegged to the US dollar, has come under only modest pressure in the forward market during the past few months.
Bahrain foreign reserves halve since 2014
Bahrain foreign reserves halve since 2014
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 10,847
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Wednesday, losing 58.51 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 10,847.93.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR3.78 billion ($1 billion), as 73 of the listed stocks advanced, while 187 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 7.09 points or 0.48 percent, to close at 1,472.98.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 178.75 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 22,916.83. This comes as 30 of the listed stocks advanced, while 37 retreated.
The best-performing stock was the Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu, with its share price surging by 8.47 percent to SR31.24.
Other top performers included Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co., which saw its share price rise by 6.13 percent to SR53.70, and Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co., which saw a 4.58 percent increase to SR137.
On the downside, the worst performer of the day was CHUBB Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., whose share price fell by 5.14 percent to SR17.53.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. and Arabian Internet and Communications Services Co. also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 4.87 percent and 4.43 percent to SR4.88 and SR181.40, respectively.
On the announcement front, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. announced its annual financial results for 2025, with sales dropping 3.06 percent year-on-year to SR8.45 billion. The company also recorded a net loss of SR893.86 million.
In a Tadawul statement, the company said the net loss and decline in annual sales were driven by a drop in average selling prices, despite higher sales volumes.
