Dubai finance chief eyes budget surplus in 2011

Dubai's government has started to cut spending in an effort to swing its budget to a surplus by 2011, the Gulf emirate's finance chief said in a report published on Sunday.

Under the new plans Abdulrahman Al-Saleh, the head of Dubai's Department of Finance, said he planned to trim the government's operating expenses by 15 per cent this year to reduce the budget gap, he told Al-Bayan daily in an interview.

Dubai's ruler approved the Gulf emirate's 2010 budget with a deficit of 2 per cent of gross domestic product, deeper than last year and in line with a budget committee's proposal, the government said in January.

The plan will be drafted in collaboration between the Department of Finance, financial services departments of local government bodies, and institutions included in the general budget of the emirate.

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