The Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain Rasheed Al-Maraj, who was among the panelists during the BNP Paribas 2010 Gulf Economic Outlook session on Thursday, said that three banks have been already appointed to market the bond in the Far East, US and the European markets.
Al-Maraj was joined by other two top officials including Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, the minister of finance and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, CEO of the Economic Development Board (EDB), to give a first hand overview on the national economy.
Responding to a question about the Kingdom's previous $500 million bond, Al-Maraj said that despite the 50 percent oversubscription of the bond to $750 million the government decided to keep the $500 million at that time.
BNP Paribas hosted Thursday the third consecutive year a session with regional media to discuss the 2010 economic outlook of Bahrain and the Gulf region.
The CBB governor said the banks had reduced their credit portfolio in 2009 due to the economic slump but the overall situation is improving now.
The CBB, he said, has had warned the banks for an excessive exposure to the realty sector and even the new guidelines were implemented to limit the exposure of the banks to the real estate sector.
Sheikh Ahmed said Bahrain had successfully managed to mitigate the impact of the global economic meltdown.
Bahrain, Sheikh Ahmed said, has had responded well to the financial crisis, thanks to the prudent approach and a sound regulatory regime.
Fortunately, the minister said, the 18.5 percent debt ratio to the GDP had also provided the government a certain maneuverability to minimize the impact of the crisis. However, he said, in 2010 the debt ratio to the GDP will jump to 27 percent. 
Sheikh Ahmed said unlike other countries in Bahrain the government didn't feel the need to provide support. "Bahrain's economy has benefited from the oil windfall and that was invested in the economy which helped in keeping lower debt rates and higher rates of growth. The government has invested in the right people and the projects," the Minister said.
"Gulf Air is among many airlines which has had been suffered because of the crisis. However, GF needs a restructuring and now has the right management to fix the issues," he said.
According to the minister, Gulf Air being owned 50-50 by Mumtalakat and the government means airlines is 100 percent owned by the government.