The UAE Cabinet, chaired by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has approved a zero-deficit federal budget of Dh61.354 billion ($16.7 billion) for 2020 fiscal year.
This is the largest budget since the establishment of the UAE.
About 31 percent of the budget is allocated to social development, aiming to implement the directives of President HH 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 bin Rashid.
He made this statement on Tuesday while approving the budget during the cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi, attended by Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed met with the two Emirati astronauts, Hazza Al Mansoori and Sultan Al Niyadi, and praised the former’s achievement of becoming the first Emirati and Arab astronaut to travel to the International Space Station, ISS.
This meeting was attended by Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences; Yousef Hamad Al Shaibani, director-general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre; and Salem Al Marri, head of the Emirates Astronauts Programme.
“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,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
The budget is distributed to various sectors related to Emirati citizens and services, with 31 percent being allocated to social development, 14 percent to infrastructure and economic resources, 6.5 percent to social benefits, and 32.6 percent to government affairs.
Reflecting the strength of the national economy and the country’s abundant resources that can fund economic development projects, the budget amount has been increased more than 300 times since the first budget in 1971 and has been without a deficit for the third consecutive year.
TradeArabia News Service
30/10/2019
