Page 442 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

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All completed forms were numbered in serial order and then coded, code number being
assigned to each industry and for each occupation. The coded questionnaire forms were then
sent to the Bahrain Petroleum Company where the information on each questionnaire was
transferred to punched cards.
A separate report on the census is being prepared by Mr. R. S. Porter, the Economist
and Statistical Adviser, British Middle East Development Division, who assisted the Govern­
ment of Bahrain in laying-out the framework of the census.
Labour Law. The final draft of the labour law which was prepared by the Labour Law
Advisory Committee was submitted to the Bahrain Government for consideration in October,
1956.
The committee was appointed in April 1955 and consisted of three representatives of the
Bahrain Government, three representatives of employers in Bahrain and three representatives
elected by the workers of Bahrain.
The Committee held 58 meetings.

FINANCE, 1926—1956

Since 1926 the Bahrain State has had a balanced budget which has been available for
inspection by all who wished to see it. Since 1937 it has printed and distributed an Annual
Report containing the budget and details of revenue and expenditure and information and
statistics about the various branches of the administration. Bahrain was the first State in the
Persian Gulf which allowed the public to know any details about the Government’s financial
affairs.
In 1926 the total revenue, derived almost entirely from customs receipts, which depended,
indirectly, on the diving industry, was Rs. 10,62,000 (£78,000)—not a large sum on which to
run the State, but prices and the cost of living were low and the country was prosperous. The
only taxation was the 5 per cent, duty on imports and a very small municipal tax in the town of
Manama. During the next four years the average revenue was Rs. 12,84,000 (£96,000) and
during this period the Government embarked on several important projects such as sinking
artesian wells to provide a water supply in the towns of Manama and Muharraq, installing
electric light and power and the construction of roads and buildings.
In 1929-30 there was an alarming fall in the revenue, due to general financial depression
and the competition of cultured pearls which caused a slump in the pearl industry. In 1932-33
the whole revenue was only Rs. 6,84,000 (£51,000). The depression lasted, in Bahrain, for
almost five years. By drastic economies, which included cuts in pay and salaries, which were
voluntarily accepted—to-day the very idea of such action would cause a strike—by appropri­
ation from the very small reserve fund, and by raising the import duty on luxury goods from
5 per cent, to 10 per cent., and on tobacco and liquor to 15 per cent., the government was able
to weather the storm.
In 1934 the State sold to the British Government the land for the Jufair Naval Base, an
area in Kozabeia, on the edge of Manama and land in Muharraq, now occupied by the R.A.F.
This transaction and the first payment of oil royalty, improved the situation and by 1936 the
revenue had risen to Rs. 13,40,000 (£100,000). Cuts in salaries were restored, with compen­
sation for losses, and increased' expenditure was authorised on social services, education,
public health and grants to municipalities. From then onwards the revenue mounted every
year and it was possible to start building up the Reserve Fund. The total revenue for these 12
years was Rs. 131,43,000, of which about one-tenth, Rs. 13,56,000, was derived from oil royalties
which were paid during four years. The total revenue for these 12 years was a little more than
one-sixth of the income in the year 1956. From 1937 until 1946 the average annual revenue
was 50 lakhs (£375,000). The State began to depend more upon the income from oil and the
diving industry became less important to the economy of the country. The satisfactory
financial position enabled the Government to carry out more ambitious projects in the field of
social services and public works ; the Manama hospital was built, staffed with British and
Asiatic doctors and nurses. Anti-malaria work was so successful that mosquito nets no longer
became necessary ; more schools were opened for boys and girls ; the causeway linking
Manama and Muharraq, which had been started in 1930, a little work being done on it every