The latest figures from Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance show that the economy grew just 0.8% year-on-year in real terms during Q2. The critical oil sector actually contracted by 0.8% thanks to lower oil prices and the kingdom’s production cuts in accordance with its Opec+ commitments. This was offset by a 1.2% increase in the non-oil sector, with the report flagging up an 8.7% increase from the hotel and restaurant sector. The ministry cites cause for optimism from the start-up of state Aluminium producer 540,000 t/y Potline 6 plant (MEES, 3 May). The financial sector was the largest contributor to non-oil GDP at 16.4% of the total, followed by manufacturing on 14.1%.