FNC endorses federal budget

Abu Dhabi: The Federal National Council Wednesday endorsed the 2010 federal budget despite strong opposition from some members to the amounts allocated to health care and education.

After two days of debate, 21 out of 40 members remained present, just enough to approve the budget passed by the Cabinet in October.

"All we ever hear about is the budget must be balanced," said Ahmad Al Daheri of Al Ain.

"This budget lacks clear government policies to meet the needs of the people."

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, defended the budget saying it met the needs of all eligible government entities, but differences remain between the ministry and some institutions such as public universities over their calculation methods.

Still, several FNC members objected to the government's zero-deficit budget, which allocates a pre-determined figure based on projected revenues to government ministries and departments.

"We want to hear the government declare a policy or a focus for each year such as human development or education or health and base its budget on that policy," said FNC Member Yousuf Bin Fadel. "It is acceptable if that results in a deficit, governments around the world produce deficits every year to meet their needs."

Health services

FNC member Abdul Rahim Shaheen of Ras Al Khaimah said the policy has led to serious deficiencies in health services offered in the Northern Emirates including shortages of medical equipment, medicine and qualified doctors because of poor salaries.

Doctors working for the Ministry of Health, often found in the northern emirates, earn about Dh13,000 per month, compared with an average of Dh50,000 for those in the Dubai Health Department and Dh70,000 for those in Abu Dhabi, Shaheen said.

Responding on behalf of the government, Al Tayer said for the first time his ministry has been able to account for the expenditures in hospitals across all emirates, enabling it to provide additional funding in the future as needed.