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29 March 2024

Ministry of Finance under fire over federal budget

The Ministry of Finance must outline all expenditures for the previous fiscal year, says Nuaimi. (FILE)

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By Staff

A UAE parliament member has criticised the Ministry of Finance for lacking a clear vision on the federal budget and refusing most projects proposed by federal departments, 'Al Khaleej' newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Yousuf Al Nuaimi, member of the Federal National Council (FNC), said salaries for the more than 50,000 civil servants at ministries and other federal government offices drain more than 80 per cent of the annual federal budget.

“What projects can you evaluate in a budget of which more than 80 per cent is allocated to salaries,” he told the paper.

“Secondly, most of the projects suggested by the ministry are rejected by the Ministry of Finance…thirdly, how can the Ministry of Finance switch from the performance budget to the zero-deficit budget without any evaluation.”

Nuaimi, member of the FNC’s Economy and Finance panel, said the Ministry of Finance must outline all expenditures for the previous fiscal year on the grounds it is in charge of releasing the annual federal budget.

“The Ministry is also supposed to define what projects have been carried out…but since the bulk of the federal budget goes to salaries, what programmes are we talking about when we evaluate the budget’s performance,” he said.