Bahrain said it received $2.3 billion last year and is expecting another $2.28 billion in 2019 under an agreement with its Gulf allies to bail it out of a deficit, the government said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates agreed last year to give Bahrain $10 billion to support the countrys funding requirements as it embarks on a fiscal program aimed at eliminating its budget deficit by 2022. The announcement came as the kingdom prepares to return to the international bond market after it met with investors to discuss a possible new debt sale this year, which would be its first since its neighbors’ bailout. A statement from the governments media directorate, quoting a finance ministry representative, said "the first installment had been received in full, and that receipt of the second installment has already started". The Gulf kingdom said is set to receive further payments of $1.76 billion in 2020, $1.85 billion in 2021, $1.42 billion in 2022 and $650 million in 2023. The statement added that the year-on-year budget deficit would fall from 6.2 percent of GDP in 2018 to 3.4 percent in 2019 and further to 2.1 percent in 2020.