Bahrain’s Finance Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said 31% of the draft budget was allocated to the Interior and Defense ministries, along with other security organizations, for this year and next year.

However, he stressed that it covered a wide range of public services and did not only mean weapons spending or military training.

'The 31% spending is divided among needed services such as immigration and traffic, which are included in the Interior Ministry,' he explained. 'It also includes recurrent security expenditure and needed projects.'

More than BD1.6 billion is earmarked for security for the next 2 years, with BD688.74 million going to the Defense Ministry - BD72 million more than in the last budget.
However, specifics on where that money would be spent were not disclosed.