Moody's on May 29 changed the outlook on Bahrain's banking system to stable from negative, citing an expected slight acceleration in economic growth.

Bahrain's real growth in GDP is expected to increase to 2.1% in 2019 from 1.8% a year ago, as a $10 billion financial support package from neighboring Gulf nations strengthens the Bahraini government's liquidity and stabilizes conditions for the country's banks, the rating agency said.

Moody's said it expects banks to maintain a healthy level of funding and liquidity, but noted that large volumes of foreign-currency funding and significant depositor concentrations are vulnerabilities for the system.