The reduction brings Bahrain’s bank assets to their lowest level since 2005, according to the central bank data.
Hundreds of protesters were injured in Bahrain during protests in February and March, which closed banks and sparked concern about the future stability of the island kingdom of around 1.2 million.
Emerged during Lebanese civil war
Bahrain established itself as a regional financial hub in the 1980s, around the time when Lebanon’s civil war drove asssets out of its banks, and in the process helped to establish Bahrain as a financial centre.
Recently, though, Bahrain has faced steep competition from nearby Dubai, and other Middle Eastern entities have also begun to assert themselves as financial centres as well, including Qatar. Even Saudi Arabia, which sent troops into Bahrain to help out during the height of its recent troubles, is planning to develop a financial services city.
"In relative terms, Bahrain has been losing ground [before the unrest]," Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
