MANAMA —
Bahrain’s king has made 17 cabinet changes by royal decree, including
appointing a new oil minister in the Gulf nation’s biggest-ever reshuffle and
first for two decades, officials said.
اضافة اعلان
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s revamp comes ahead of lower-house elections in November and as
Bahrain, a financial center with oil resources and heavy debt, attempts to
reposition itself for a post pandemic era.
Oil Minister
Mohammed bin Mubarak was among 13 new faces in the cabinet under Crown Prince
and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, who was appointed as premier in
November 2020.
The 22-strong
cabinet also includes four women holding the health, housing and urban
planning, sustainable development and tourism portfolios. Its youngest member
is 38.
“The reshuffle
comes at a pivotal time in the post-COVID economic recovery era,” a government
source said on Tuesday, adding: “The country is focused on moving into a new
phase.”
Bahrain’s last cabinet
reshuffle was in 2002, when 10 new ministers were appointed. The only other
cabinet reshuffle was in 1973.
Three of the four
deputy prime minister positions were axed in the current reshuffle, leaving
Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa as the sole deputy PM.
Bahrain, a member
of the
OPEC-plus group of oil producers, carried debts standing at 129 percent
of GDP last year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
But high oil prices
and the growth of non-oil GDP should help it carry out economic reforms and
work towards balancing the budget, the IMF said last month.
The island nation,
which has a population of just 1.7 million, broke with Arab consensus by
normalizing relations with Israel in 2020.
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