The Bahraini Finance Ministry said on Monday that the budget deficit shrank to 4.7% of GDP in 2019 from 6.3% in the previous year.

Bahrain experienced the first budget deficit - which does not include interest payments - to shrink 85%, the ministry said.

Bahrain aims to reach a budget without a deficit by 2022 as part of a financial reforms program linked to a $ 10 billion aid package it received from its Gulf allies in 2018.