Mubasher: Moody’s Financial Services has expected Bahrain’s fiscal deficit to expand and government debt levels could rise to 100% of GDP by 2019, as long as the government is not capable of achieving significant revenue and expenditure reforms amid low oil prices, according to an issued statement.
“In coming years, the government's ability to reduce fiscal deficits and ensure government debt sustainability will determine the sovereign rating”, says a senior credit officer at Steffen Dyck Moody’s.
It is noteworthy that Bahrain’s general government debt grew to 59% of GDP at the end of 2015.
“Following an already very wide fiscal deficit at 13% of GDP in 2015, Moody’s expects it will widen to 16% in 2016 and narrow only gradually over the following years,” according to the statement.
