Manama: Bahrain experienced a pronounced pickup in its headline growth during the first quarter of the year. According to the latest Bahrain Economic Quarterly (BEQ) issued by the Economic Development Board (EDB), growth reached 4.5 per cent, its highest level since 2014, led by the 12.1 per cent year-on-year growth in the oil sector.
According to Bahrain News Agency, BNA, the report also noted resilience of the non-oil economy, which continued to grow and benefit from a large pipeline of infrastructure investment. While growth continued to be broad-based across the non-oil economy, performance was particularly strong in social and personal services with 8.4 per cent year-on-year gain. This reflects the strong demographics drivers underpinning the demand for private education and health care. Construction which rose by 5.4 per cent year-on-year, reflects the strong infrastructure investment, while financial services expanded by 3.1 per cent year-on-year.
Resilience momentum
Nearly $4 billion (Dh14.7 billion) of projects have now been tendered under the GCC Development Fund, with nearly $3 billion of projects already commenced. This marks a near tripling from a year earlier. Also, private sector projects are making good progress, including flagship ventures such as Alba Line 6.
This resilience momentum in the non-oil sector has helped to support strong growth in private sector employment. Overall employment saw an almost 7 per cent year-on-year increase in the first quarter, with the private sector creating 46,669 jobs as compared to the first quarter of 2015, a 9 per cent year-on-year gain. According to the Social Insurance Organisation, Bahraini private sector employment stood at 92,567 in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 91,233 in 2015.
