A recent report published by Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB) revealed that growth in the non-oil sector of Bahrain’s economy reached 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to 3.7 percent during 2016.
The report said that growth was powered by strong performance across the non-oil private sector, especially with the launching of large-scale infrastructure projects. The Bahraini economy developed by 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, in line with the 3 percent pace seen in 2016 as a whole.
The first three months of 2017 have witnessed remarkable growth in the hotels and restaurants sector, in addition to financial services, transportation and communications industries. The fastest growing single sector during Q1 was that of hotels and restaurants, achieving a 12.3 percent year-on-year real rate of expansion.
Financial services have expanded by 8.3 percent at the end of the first quarter, compared to 5.2 percent at the same time in 2016. As for the transportation and communications sector, it has also seen a strong progress with an annual real growth rate of 8.2 percent in Q1.
The major growth of Bahrain’s non-oil economy is mainly the result of large amount of investments in infrastructure that the Kingdom is currently witnessing, most notably the US 3 billion Alba Line 6 project – which is set to create the world’s largest single-site aluminum smelter. Other projects include a US one billion investment the airport modernization program and another project of US 335 million for a new Banagas gas plant.
Active projects that are part of the GCC Development Fund have also witnessed an additional increase in their aggregate value. The cumulative total worth of GCC Development Fund projects reached around US 3.2 billion, achieving an 111.3 percent increase in the active pipeline from the first quarter of 2016.