Bahrain has no plans to float stock market - paper

Bahrain does not plan to sell shares in the Bahrain Stock Exchange that is currently being converted into a commercial company, the country's central bank governor said in remarks published on Thursday.

Rasheed Al Maraj was cited in the daily newspaper Al Watan as saying the stock exchange was being transformed from a government department to a commercial company to ensure it operates on a commercial basis and under better management, which should lead to higher trading volumes.

Maraj has previously said he was not happy with the fact that the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) was both managing and supervising the stock exchange.

Bahrain's stock exchange has long been plagued by minimal trading volumes, with virtually no company being traded daily.

It also faces competition in Bahrain for the first time with Indian exchange operator Financial Technologies planning to start its Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) this fall.

Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB), which decides on the country's economic policies, has said in the past it could partially privatise the stock exchange in the future. (Reuters)