Sharjah: Sharjah’s expenditure for the 2015 budget has been set at Dh17.7 billion, the highest in the emirate’s history.
The budget, which is 12 per cent higher than last year, was approved on Tuesday by His Highness Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. The new budget will help provide a thousand jobs for Emiratis in government bodies with an aim to increase emiratisation and provide jobs for new graduates.
Walid Ebrahim Al Sayegh, Director General of the Sharjah Finance Department, said that the record expenditure has been allocated for various economic sectors, with economic development accounting for 45 per cent allocation for the budget. He said that this reflects the emirate’s keenness to improve Sharjah’s competitiveness in the field of economy, and added that the economic development sector’s allocation has recorded an increase of 22 per cent compared to last year.
“The infrastructure sector received an allocation of 34 per cent of expenditures, an increase of 1 per cent from last year. The education and culture sector was given 11 per cent allocation, a 17 per cent increase from 2014, while the government administration sector received 10 per cent in order to ensure the welfare of Emiratis and increase the emiratisation rate,” said Al Sayegh.
He pointed out that allocations for wages have increased from 23 per cent in 2014 to 28 per cent in 2015, which will help improve the standard of income for employees. As for government revenues, Al Sayegh said that the emirate’s economy is quite diverse, and does not rely on just one source for revenue. He pointed out that operating income of government institutions, departments and authorities accounted for 92 per cent of the revenue structure, while capital revenue comprised 3 per cent of total government revenue.
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Saud Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Department, said that the budget is in line with the directives of Dr Shaikh Sultan to stimulate the emirate’s economy and achieve growth rates that contribute to putting Sharjah on the regional and international economic map.
