Dubai seeks to offset Covid-19 impact with budget of 60b dirhams

Dubai

DUBAI set out another expansionary budget for this year as the Middle Eastern business hub seeks to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and keep its economy on a growth trajectory.

Spending has been pegged at 60 billion dirhams (S$22 billion) and revenue at 57.6 billion dirhams, according to tweets from Dubai's Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed. Dubai is continuing to work to "realise the emirate's ambitious future plans, enhance its competitiveness and consolidate its position as a leading global commercial hub", he said.

As other wealthy nations tightened Covid-19 restrictions, Dubai decided to take a risk and gradually reopened its economy while embarking on one of the world's most extensive vaccination drives. It is currently hosting the Expo 2020 exhibition, one of the biggest in-person events since the pandemic started. Dubai's business conditions saw the sharpest improvement in two years in October, spurred by a rebound in new orders and increased tourism as Expo 2020 got under way.

The government allocated 42 per cent of total expenditure for this year towards infrastructure and transportation sectors, while 30 per cent was set aside for social development. It expects 57 per cent of revenue to come from fees and 20 per cent from value-added and custom taxes. BLOOMBERG