Coronavirus: Bahrain to pay half of wages to help COVID-19 hit private firms

Bahrain’s government said on Monday it would pay 50 percent of salaries for private company workers in sectors that were hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, state news agency BNA reported.

The new payments would start in July, BNA said, adding that the government would extend its assistance to Bahraini citizens by also paying electricity and water bills.

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Bahrain had said it was spending $570 million on paying salaries to all 100,000 of its citizens employed in the private sector from April to June to help soften the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak.

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The government will also pay electricity and water bills for all Bahraini citizens and businesses and will extend some tax breaks on properties and tourism, the labor ministry had said in a statement.

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The initiative was part of a $11 billion stimulus package announced by the government for the private sector to mitigate the impact on the economy from the outbreak.