The Financial and Economic Committee of the UAE Cabinet, tonight discussed the budget bill for 2016 in a meeting chaired by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and attended by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, and Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy.

At the meeting which took place at the Presidential Palace, the committee discussed the 2016 budget bill in the light of the projected monetary position of the federal government in 2015 and 2016 It recommended a number of measures to keep the budget balanced for these two years and take necessary action to complete work on the 2016 budget bill.

The Ministry of Finance worked in coordination with other ministries and government departments to complete work on the budget bill for 2016, as part of the 2014-2016 cycle, in time and in line with the strategic goals set by the federal government.

The committee reviewed requests submitted by federal ministries and departments for additional credit for their 2015 budgets to pay off obligations and fund new projects within the federal budget. The committee took decisions and made recommendations to be submitted to the Cabinet.

The committee also reviewed issues pertaining to increasing the revenue of the federal government based on recommendations presented by the committee itself during previous meetings and the related developments following coordination with UAE departments and the members of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) on unifying and adopting suitable procedures to collect fees.