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Manama: Bahrain has not been seriously affected by the global financial crisis thanks to its conservative policies and close supervision by the central bank, a senior analyst has said.
"The current [market] situation in Bahrain is positive and we are faring better than everybody else in the region. While other stock markets - in Saudi Arabia for instance - witnessed a decline, the market here has been only slightly affected and has managed to keep losses minimal," Jassem Hussain, a former business research expert at the University of Bahrain, told Gulf News.
Conservative outlook
"Bahrain is a traditionally conservative market unlike the other markets, which minimises risks. At the same time, the Central Bank of Bahrain has always followed a very good regulatory policy, with close day-to-day monitoring. This has greatly helped to contain any damage," he said.
Hussain, a member of the financial committee in the parliament, said markets in the country had a tendency to be influenced by developments in Kuwait and by Kuwaiti investors.
"There are many Kuwaiti investors in Bahrain while some companies trade in the Kuwaiti market, which translates into some form of influence," he said.
However, he said, the market picture would become clearer once the 2008 reports were out. "There are some companies and banks that had bought security papers, but as these papers have lost some of their value, there will certainly be a decline in the profits for 2008," he said.
Companies that were quick to notice something "fishy" in the market and had quickly got rid of the papers would not take much of a hit, Hussain said.
"The global crisis is not the result of recent developments; it has been simmering for some time, although few thought it would be so grave. Those who appreciated the gravity of the situation sold their papers and averted the problems that are plaguing some companies and banks today," he said.
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