Cabinet clears Dh180b budget

FEDERAL SPENDING AT DH60.3B WILL BE 17.3% HIGHER IN 2019 UNDER THREE-YEAR PLAN

The UAE Cabinet yesterday approved a Dh180 billion three-year federal budget. The Cabinet meeting chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved the zero-deficit federal budget for the next three years.

“I have chaired today a Cabinet meeting, during which we approved the federal budget of Dh180 billion for the next three years,” Shaikh Mohammad tweeted. “Fifty-nine per cent of the budget will go to education and social development,” he added.

The budget includes 42.3 per cent allocation for community development, 17 per cent for education development and 7.3 per cent for healthcare development.

The budget allocation for 2019 at Dh60.3 billion is up 17.3 per cent over the Dh51.4 billion allocation in 2018. The sharp spending increase for 2019 compares to a rise of just 5.5 per cent in the original budget for 2018.

The Cabinet also adopted a new federal law to regulate the space and advanced technology sectors. “It was a coincidence to adopt a large federal budget with the new law for the space sector. Both will take the Emirates to new heights,” Shaikh Mohammad said.

Shaikh Mohammad listens to Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, as Lt. Gen. Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, look on during the Cabinet meeting yesterday.WAM