UAE’s budget in H1 is balanced: Al Khouri
The country’s budget in the first half of the year was ‘balanced’, with a slight increase in its revenues, a top official said.
The fiscal balance sheet for the remaining part of the year is also expected to remain balanced, the Director-General of the Ministry of Finance Younis Haji Al Khouri told reporters on Monday night at a media round-table.
He said that ‘a slight increase’ in revenues comes from increase in the government fees. However, he did not share numbers. “All in all we have seen an increase in revenues,” he said, adding that “the next budget only will reveal the details of the increase. “Our revenues are mainly driven by contributions from the emirates, fees levied by the federal government and income from the investments,” he said. Seventy per cent of the financial resources for the nation’s budget come from the returns on investments, and Abu Dhabi is the chief contributor, followed by Dubai, he said.
Explaining the budgetary expenditure for the year, Al Khouri said: “We almost executed whatever was requested for the year, aligned with the strategic objectives set by the government,“ the director-general said.
The total outlay of the federal budget for 2010 is Dh43.37 billion.
Al Khouri said that as per the budget estimates mega development projects will be launched costing Dh8 billion.
The infrastructure projects to be built in the next five years include highways that will improve inter-emirate connectivity. More projects will be launched in the education, health and housing sectors, the director-general said. No government projects have been deferred or cancelled due to the repercussions of the global financial crisis, he said, adding that all projects will be carried out as the pre-planned schedules.
Al Khouri said that a sum of Dh1.2 billion has been allocated every year for implementing the federal development projects as part of the budget.
He expected the federal budget 2011 to see growth in revenues and expenses according to the preliminary estimates, along with maintaining balance.
The official added that the budget will be zero-deficit. Commenting about the direction of the next budget, Al Khouri said that preparation work for the budget for 2011-13 has already begun, adding that it will not include any additional taxes or surcharges.
