Tuesday 22 March 2011

FT.com - Protests take economic toll on Bahrain

As people begin to trickle back to the streets, and shops reopen their doors, Manama is tentatively regaining an air of normality after last week’s bloody crackdown on a youthful pro-democracy protest movement.

However, clashes between Shia protesters and the country’s security forces have continued in the dilapidated villages outside Manama, and the economic, commercial and reputational damage done to the aspiring business hub by the past month’s political upheaval is significant.

Bahrain will “almost definitely” suffer its worst economic downturn in three decades this year, with gross domestic product contracting about 2 per cent or even worse if the political turmoil persists, says Said Hirsh of Capital Economics.

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