Al Saleh chairs yesterday’s special Shura Council meeting on the budget

Bahraini ministers urged to cut travel expenses

MANAMA, 0 hours, 38 minutes
ago

Bahraini government ministers should no longer be allowed to charge first class travel to their expense accounts if unnecessary spending is to be reduced, according to legislators.

This could save the country millions of dinars and help balance the budget, said Shura Council financial and economic affairs committee chairman Khalid Al Maskati.

He was speaking following a special meeting of the council held yesterday to discuss the new national budget – which has now been delayed by more than six months, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

“There is no huge difference between travelling business or first class, so ministers must downgrade to save on costs,” said Al Maskati.

“An agreement has been reached between us and MPs to put this demand within our terms of negotiation with the government.

“It would mean that millions of dinars would be saved because of the frequent flights that ministers take.”

Shura Council chairman Ali Al Saleh, who chaired yesterday’s meeting, called for planned subsidy cuts to be introduced gradually so as to safeguard Bahrain’s finances for future generations.

“We have to strike a balance and remove any unnecessary spending,” he said.

“Flexibility and acceptance from the government and legislators will get us through this – but precise plans for subsidies have to be presented, which sees them redirected gradually in phases.”

Meanwhile, Al Maskati, who is also co-chairman of the financial and economic affairs joint committee that has been formed with parliament to negotiate the budget, said tough decisions needed to be made.

“We shouldn’t think about making savings here and there, we should think whether it will have a negative impact,” he said.

“If subsidies are to be removed, then it should be expatriates who are affected first, with redirected payments given out according to studies that take into consideration other services and people’s needs.”

Alternatives to subsidy cuts were still possible, Al Maskati  urged.

“We have proposed several amendments to the budget that will direct payments to ministries and government bodies that serve the people and do not spend lavishly,” he said.

“Our proposals would see equilibrium returned to government spending.

“Under our plans, all ministries’ budgets would be slashed with the exception of the Housing, Health, Education, Social Development, and Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs, and the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministries, who are set to get more, because they are properly serving the community with the given funds.”

A government delegation, led by Deputy Premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, will meet the joint Shura Council and parliament financial and economic affairs committee on Sunday to present a new subsidies packages.

Legislators’ proposal to save money on minister’s travel expenses will also be tabled at the Sunday meeting. – TradeArabia News Service