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Bahrain’s Crown Prince Hails Continuous Support of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait

General view of the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain, February 21, 2019. (Reuters)
General view of the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain, February 21, 2019. (Reuters)
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Bahrain’s Crown Prince Hails Continuous Support of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait

General view of the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain, February 21, 2019. (Reuters)
General view of the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain, February 21, 2019. (Reuters)

Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, expressed his appreciation to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait for their continuous support to his country.

Speaking at the Bahrain Government Forum 2019, the Crown Prince noted that the initial results of the Fiscal Balance Program, were positive and Bahrain aims to achieve a fiscal balance by 2022.

He announced that during H1 of 2019, the deficit fell 38 percent, non-oil revenues increased 47 percent, oil revenues increased 10 percent and expenditure reduced by 14 percent compared with the same period in 2018.

Between 2008 and 2018, non-oil growth saw a 50 percent growth rate, according to the Crown Prince.

He highlighted the progress of the National Employment Program, which is designed to make citizens the first choice of employment. The program has employed 5,918 Bahrainis and helped those working in the private sector increase their income by 4.3 percent.

The Crown Prince highlighted Manama’s efforts in accelerating development through a citizen-centered approach that is participatory and sustainable.

Over the past few years, the number of government institutions committed to the agreed upon service-level reached 100 percent in three entities, which increased to 16 that were honored at the Forum.

“Looking back at previous accomplishments should renew our drive towards the next phase of development, which requires enhanced confidence and renewed resolve,” the Crown Prince concluded.

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FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.