Federal National Council (FNC) said the UAE’s revenue estimates for the financial year 2022 will be Dh374.98 million higher, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
The UAE federal government will increase its spending by Dh1.23 billion in the 2022 budget, the Federal National Council (FNC) has announced.
The government estimates revenues will be Dh374.98 million higher, according to FNC, adding that the increased spending will come from the federal government’s general reserves.
The UAE parliament approved two draft laws amending provisions of the Federal Law No. 26 of 2019 on public finance, as well as the complementary budget to the UAE’s federal budget 2022.
This came at the 13th session of the third ordinary term of the Federal National Council’s 17th legislative chapter, which was chaired by Saqr Ghobash, Speaker for the FNC, today.
The approved amendments to the law include a new definition for consolidated final statements; several provisions to expand the scope of the public finance law to include government companies; and the introduction of some provisions regulating accounting standards applicable in the UAE.
The definition of a consolidated final account has been amended as follows: “An annual report that includes the consolidated annual financial statements of the federal government, which is prepared by the Ministry based on financial statements submitted by federal authorities, in accordance with instructions specified in the annual financial circular issued by the minister.”
According to the draft law, the UAE government will adopt an accrual-based accounting system, in line with the UAE’s accounting standards. When drafting their budgets, federal authorities must comply with the financial appropriation limits allocated to them by the law on linking the general federal budget.
These expenditures will be disbursed, provided that they are specified and payable, in accordance with the relevant applicable legislation.
Government companies, as determined by the cabinet under a proposal from the Ministry of Finance, are obligated to provide the Ministry of Finance with the required reports and financial data in the form, in line with the contents and dates specified by the ministry.
In accordance with a federal draft law on approving a complementary budget to the UAE’s general budget for the 2022 fiscal year, the UAE general budget revenues for the 2022 fiscal year are estimated to increase by AED374,980,000, while the general budget expenses for the 2022 fiscal year are estimated to increase by AED1,232,358,000.
This comes as the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) revised up its projections for the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, which is expected to reach 4.2 percent in 2023, compared with its previous forecast of 3.3 percent.
In its Annual Report for 2021, the CBUAE estimated the non-oil GDP growth to reach 3.9 percent in 2023, compared with previous estimates of 3.3 percent, while the oil GDP growth will reach 5 percent in 2023, compared with earlier estimates of 3.4 percent.
The report highlights the results achieved in terms of the UAE’s economic activity, which has begun to flourish again as a result of the country’s overall economic support measures and its success in containing the financial and economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 fallout.
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The CBUAE has projected the real GDP growth to reach 5.4 percent in 2022, after the growth jumped to 3.8 percent in 2021.
The non-oil GDP growth rose to 5.3 percent in 2021, and is expected to reach 4.3 percent in 2022, in light of sustainable government spending, positive outlook for loan growth and the improvement in business sentiment, according to the estimates of the central bank.
The oil GDP growth is anticipated to grow 8 percent in 2022, due to the expected recovery in global demand, as well as the recovery of the transport and travel sector, and production increase of OPEC member countries.
