According to Egypt’s Planning Minister, Egypt’s economy grew 4.3 percent in the quarter ending in December 2013, compared with 1.4 percent during the same period the previous year. Unemployment was also calculated at 12.9 percent at the end of December, down from 13.4 percent a year earlier. The MInister further added that Egypt’s GDP grew 5.6 percent in the first half of the 2014/15 fiscal year, which began in July, versus 1.2 percent in the year-earlier period.

Bahraini legislators plan to investigate the alleged squandering of 400 million dinars ($1.06 billion) of public funds by government departments and state-linked companies. The $1 billion-plus would represent a significant proportion of the kingdom’s gross domestic product — pegged at $34 billion by the International Monetary Fund last year — at a time when the oil-producing Gulf Arab state’s finances are under increased pressure because of a fall in crude prices. [Reuters, 3/10/2015]

The cabinet of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni says it plans to pay off outstanding healthcare bills owned to Tunisia and Jordan, and continue to work on drafting the 2015 budget. In early 2013, the Jordanian Health Minister put the figure at around JD 150 million ($ 212 million) for Jordan alone. In October 2013, a member of the Misrata Local Council estimated that money owed to Tunisian hospitals was “no less than $10 million.”  It has previously admitted to not having access to funds from the Central Bank of Libya, which ultimately controls the country’s oil revenues. [Libya Monitor (subscription), 3/10/2015]