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Bahrain Raises Gasoline Prices between 12% - 25%

Drivers wait in line to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Budaiya, Bahrain. (Reuters)
Drivers wait in line to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Budaiya, Bahrain. (Reuters)
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Bahrain Raises Gasoline Prices between 12% - 25%

Drivers wait in line to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Budaiya, Bahrain. (Reuters)
Drivers wait in line to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Budaiya, Bahrain. (Reuters)

Bahrain raised gasoline prices on Monday, reported the National Oil and Gas Authority, in which Octane 91 prices were increased BHD0.15, 12 percent, while Octane 95 BHD0.40, 25 percent, from BHD0.125 and BHD0.160 respectively.

In a statement, the National Oil and Gas Authority revealed that modification of regular and premium gasoline prices was based upon the revision of global and Gulf prices.

Regular gasoline (Octane 91) would be sold for BHD0.140 when it was previously sold for BHD0.125 per liter. Premium gasoline would be sold for BHD0.200 when it was sold before for BHD0.160.

Regular and premium Gasoline subsidies reached in 2017 around BHD41M (USD154m), and are forecast to extend to BHD66m (USD249m), according to the statement.

The Authority noted that the updated regular gasoline prices would remain supported with more than 33 percent, and gasoline is currently being sold in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries for prices ranging between BHD0.180 and BHD0.205 per liter.

This falls under extensive economic reforms taken by the GCC countries to combat drop in prices, and to redirect support to oil derivatives in order to achieve financial balance and reduce the gap between Gulf and global markets.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.