Bahrain's sovereign fund will not sell assets

(MENAFN) Mumtalakat, the Bahraini sovereign fund, said that it will not sell any assets or change its investment strategy in response to the continuous plunge in the global prices of oil which might lead to a decline in the state's budget, Gulf Daily News reported.

The fund, which holds stakes in Bahraini companies including Alba, Gulf Air and Batelco, is fully state-owned though it does not receive surplus cash from the government, but invests money generated from its own returns.

Mumtalakat said it was not expecting Bahraini authorities to use its assets to finance any shortfalls in its budget due to oil losing almost 6 percent of its price since June, especially since the non-hydrocarbon sources account for more than three-quarters of Bahrain's GDP, reducing exposure to oil price fluctuations, like in other Gulf countries.

"The Bahrain economy is sufficiently robust and diversified to make any outflow from our fund or any other sales, transfers or privatizations unnecessary," it said.

In October, the fund began acquiring outside the kingdom by announcing that it signed a a deal with Bahrain-based Investcorp to acquire US software and services firm PRO Unlimited for around USD300 million, as well as buying a minority stake in UAE-based GEMS Education along with Blackstone and Dubai's Fajr Capital.