UAE Cabinet approves Dhs61b budget for 2020
The UAE Cabinet, chaired by Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has approved a zero-deficit federal budget of Dhs61.354 billion for 2020 fiscal year. This is the largest budget since the establishment of the UAE.
About 31 per cent of the budget is allocated to social development, aiming to implement the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to offer UAE citizens and residents a decent life and achieve the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071.
“The year 2020 will be the start of a new and rapidly developing decade. The federal budget is balanced and reflects our national priorities,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
He made this statement on Tuesday while approving the budget during the cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed met two Emirati astronauts, Hazza Al Mansoori and Sultan Al Niyadi.
He praised Al Mansoori’s achievement of becoming the first Emirati and Arab astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS).
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed was briefed about the achievements of the UAE’S space sector since the country’s establishment.
“We have achieved the UAE’S dream, Sheikh Zayed’s dream, and his children do not know the impossible. Space is not the end of our ambitions but the beginning of our journey, and we have started training Emirati astronauts to explore Mars,” he said.
The budget is distributed to various sectors related to Emirati citizens and services, with 31 per cent being allocated to social development, 14 per cent to infrastructure and economic resources, 6.5 per cent to social benefits, and 32.6 per cent to government affairs.
The estimated budget allocation to social development and social benefits programmes amount to Dhs26.7 billion, or 38 per cent of the total budget.
Allocations to the public, higher education and university programmes are to the tune of Dhs10.4 billion, or 14.8 per cent of the total.
The estimated cost of public education programmes amounts to Dhs6.7 billion, or 9.5 per cent of the total budget while higher and university education is expected to cost Dhs3.7 billion, or 5.3 per cent.
About Dhs4.9 billion, or 6.9 per cent of the total, has been allocated to healthcare and disease prevention.
Allocations to the social rights programmes of the Ministry of Community Development amount to Dhs3.5 billion, or five percent of the total while Dhs1.8 billion has been allocated to the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, or 2.5 per cent of the total, to provide support for housing for Emiratis.
Social benefit allocations, most notably to pensions, account for Dhs4.6 billion or 6.5 per cent of the total, in implementation of the directives of the UAE’S leadership to offer decent life to senior citizens, including military veterans and civilians, while other services account for Dhs1.6 billion.
Allocations to government affairs amount to Dhs23 billion, or 32.6 per cent of the total, while Dhs9.9 billion is allocated to infrastructure and economic affairs, accounting for 14 per cent of the total.
Dhs21.9 billion is alloted to social development programmes or 31.1 per cent.
Dhs4.6 billion is allocated to social benefits or 6.5 per cent of the total, and Dhs7.8 billion is allocated to other federal expenses, accounting for 11.1 per cent.
During the meeting, the UAE Cabinet approved the establishment of the Education Support Fund, which aims to encourage partnerships with the private sector and business sector, to advance the country’s education system.
Regarding organisational affairs, the cabinet approved the establishment of the Emirates Council for Climate Change and Environment to be chaired by the Minister of Climate Change and Environment with government agencies and representatives of the private sector being its members.
The cabinet also approved an amendment to the establishment of the “Permanent Human Rights Universal Periodic Review Report,” led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the membership of representatives of relevant federal and local authorities.
About 31% of the budget is allocated to social development; ‘The year 2020 will be the start of a new and rapidly developing decade. The federal budget is balanced and reflects our national priorities,’ says Mohammed