Premier orders to rule out fee hike plans

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the regular weekly Cabinet session at Gudaibiya Palace today.
Highlighting the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH the Prime Minister ordered all ministries and government departments to rule out any plan to increase fees that may affect the citizens until the joint executive-legislature committee completes its work on reaching a consensus on the subsidy-restructuring mechanism to ensure that government subsidies benefit the neediest eligible citizens.
The Prime Minister also gave directives to ministries and government departments to seek to increase the sources of income and general state budget without resorting to price or fee hike that may affect the citizens until a consensus is reached.
The Premier explained that this could be done through the optimal use of resources and potentials, as well as effective policies, rationalising expenditure, avoiding unjustified spending, attracting more investments and investing, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yaser bin Isa Al-Nasser said.
HRH the Prime Minister praised the artistic, cultural and educational events held recently in the Kingdom under his patronage, and opened on his behalf by Deputy Premier HH Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
They include the 44th Annual Bahrain Fine Art Exhibition, which showcases the creativity of Bahraini artists, and the graduation ceremony of the 23rd batch of the University of Bahrain (UoB) students and post graduates, reflecting the progress of higher education in the kingdom.
HRH Premier extended congratulations to the UoB graduates and their families, wished them fruitful careers and commended the efforts of UoB’s academic and administrative staff.
The Prime Minister issued an order stipulating that Tuesday, February 13, in which the National Sports Day will be celebrated, will be a half-work day to pave the way for government employees to take part in athletic events, giving directives to all ministries and government departments to hold sports activities on that day.
The Cabinet lauded HM King Hamad’s noble initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering youth, citing the international echoes of the “King Hamad Youth Empowerment Award”, and highlighted its key role in achieving sustainable development goals, shedding light on youth potential and creativity that attracted the world’s attention to their distinctive achievements and effective contributions.
The session was commenting on a memorandum presented by the Youth and Sports Affairs Minister, in which he updated the Cabinet about the on-going preparations to announce the laureates of the valuable award, as well as about the award’s categories and participants, including individuals and local and international organisations.
HRH Premier, commenting on a presentation by the Minister of Interior, lauded the minister’s meeting with various social segments on Sunday for the aim of strengthening the principle of community partnership on issues related to the nation and the citizens.
The premier hailed the security efforts that had resulted in carrying out a successful pre-emptive security operations and the foiling of a number of crimes which the terrorists were intending to commit across the Kingdom.
In this regard, the session stressed the importance of national responsibility in safeguarding comprehensive security in the Kingdom, commended the efforts of the security authorities and condemned, in the strongest terms, the criminal terrorist acts and those planning or committing them.
The session reviewed the latest economic indicators which showed that that the national economy’s is continuing to move forward, with the gross domestic product posting a growth of 3.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2016.
Figures also indicated that non-oil exports had increased by 17 per cent compared with the same period and the trade deficit decreased by about 5 per cent compared to the second quarter of the 2016.
The same period also witnessed the issuance of 15 industrial permits and the generation of 778 job opportunities, a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism said.
The Cabinet also discussed amending the Court of Cassation Law in order to unify appeal procedures of civil and family verdicts, as outlined in the memorandum presented by the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, and decided to refer the matter to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The session agreed to create a new directorate at the Ministry of Finance to be in charge of following up on the implementation of the government’s policies and procedures regarding the management and structuring of the public debt according to best international practices and standards, as recommended by the Civil Service Bureau in the memorandum presented by the Deputy Premier and Deputy Chairman of the Civil Service Council.
The Cabinet approved the ratification of two agreements between Bahrain and Egypt on cooperation in the field of commercial maritime navigation and on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion, and referred two draft-laws to the Legislative Branch.
The session also endorsed the ratification of a cooperation agreement between Bahrain and Cyprus in the fight against terrorism, organised crime, trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, illegal migration and other criminal offenses stipulated in the Convention. The ratification bill was referred to the Council of Representatives.
The Cabinet reviewed two bills, drafted based on proposals by the Council of Representatives, including a draft-law on amending Article 56 of the Traffic Law promulgated by Law 23/2014, and another on amending Article 1 of Law 32/2010 with regards to Financial Disclosure.
The bills were referred to the Representatives Council, along with two memoranda including the government’s opinions on them as highlighted by the Deputy Premier and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The session approved three proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives on developing a comprehensive national strategy to deal with the human rights reports issued on Bahrain, implementing a physical literacy programme in kindergartens and basic educational stages, and on the Bahrain Bowling Association and the Bahrain Billiard and Snooker Federation.
On ministerial reports, the Cabinet reviewed a report by the Electricity and Water Affairs Minister on the eighth session of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly, as well as on the results of Bahrain’s participation in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the World Future Energy Summit and the International Water Summit (IWS) in the UAE.
The session also reviewed a report submitted by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism on the results of Bahrain’s participation in the International Tourism Trade Fair, held recently in the Spanish capital Madrid.

Source: BNA