As financial intermediaries and provider of financial services, banking sector plays a pivotal role in the development of any economy. Performance of loans in banks' portfolios is a critical issue for this sector. The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of Non-Performing Loans in Gulf Cooperation Council region. This study investigates the significant factors determining the Non-Performing Loans in banking sector of this region taking into consideration bank specific as well as macroeconomic factors. Two step Generalized Method of Moments approach to study the relationship among the variables was used to examine the determinants of Non-Performing Loans in this region for a period from 2009 to 2015. Four different models employed as a result of the examination of the theories were used to observe and analyse the determinants of these non-performing loans. According to the findings of the model generated from the bad management hypothesis, Non-performing loans are a serious issue requiring due attention, and bank profitability measured by Return on Average Assets has significant and negative effect on Non-Performing Loans. This suggests that banks in this region have more incentive to increase return by using their assets and effectively managing the funds contributed by the shareholders respectively.

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The main purpose of the study is to investigate the short run and long run relationship between government revenues and government expenditures in Bahrain over the period from 1990 to 2017. Using annual data and time series analysis, the study indicated that the above two variables, government revenues and government expenditures were integrated of order one when both augmented Dickey-Fuller and Phillip-Perron (PP) unit root tests were applied. The empirical results have revealed that unidirectional causality runs from government revenues to government expenditures. Thus, there is evidence in support of "revenue-spend" hypothesis. Finally, the results revealed that a 1% increase in oil revenue induces an increase in government expenditures by 1.37%. Therefore, policymakers in Bahrain should focus to further diversify the sources of government revenues from non-oil sectors in such a way that the country will be immune to vulnerability, especially when world oil market performs poorly.

The study aims at analyzing the current state of the SMEs sector in three Arab countries, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain; therefore, we adopt descriptive and analytical approaches. Findings show that SMEs sector plays a vital role in the region as a major source of various economic contributions, but it faces domestic and external challenges, which could hinder its resilience and competitiveness. Most of SMEs are concentrated in the trade sector; other important sectors include small-scale workshops, hotels and restaurants as well as contracting. They are less important in industry and other capital-intensive sectors, and finally, the study recommends specific suggestions, which could enhance the contribution of SMEs sector in national income of the Arab countries.