Dubai: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, issued a circular on the preparation of the draft of the federal budget for 2018.
A statement on Thursday from the Ministry of Finance said the five-year budget plan for 2017-2021 was prepared for ministries and independent federal entities in line with UAE Vision 2021 and resolutions by the UAE Cabinet.
Shaikh Hamdan stressed the importance of adopting the zero-based budgeting system while preparing the draft of the federal budget in order to avoid overspending. The zero-based system aims to re-calculate the costs of activities and programmes of federal government entities to reach the actual cost of the required services without over-spending.
He also said that the budget draft for the fiscal year 2018 will be prepared to achieve optimal use of the government’s financial resources to enhance the sustainable allocation of resources.
Key financial instructions to prepare the budget draft include rationalising and controlling expenditures without affecting the ability of government entities to achieve its goals and programmes. They also include preparing a development budget that encourages expenditure on productive investment.
Shaikh Hamdan also instructed staff to prepare the draft according to international best practices, and to use the latest automated systems to prepare it.
This is part of implementing the government’s strategy launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on developing the federal government’s management. The strategy also urges the adoption of sound financial policies and procedures, enhancing income services, and receiving customer satisfaction.
In the statement from the Ministry, Shaikh Hamdan pointed that the UAE ranked first in the Arab world and 24th globally out of 176 countries in the transparency index in 2016.
