The Financial and Economic Committee, chaired by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, yesterday discussed the features of 2016 draft budget and reviewed the projected fiscal cash flow for 2015- 2016 within a medium-term plan for the years 2014 - 2016, as well as projected revenues and expenses of the Federal Government for years 2015 - 2016.

Held at the presidential palace, the meeting was attended by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs.

The Committee directed maintaining the budget's balance and taking necessary measures to finalise the 2016 draft budget.

It also reviewed the topics regarding development of the federal government revenue sources for year 2015 based on the recommendations made by the Financial and Economic Committee in its previous meetings, and on the basis of developments in this respect, and coordination with the competent authorities.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), in the light of unified data of the MoF, coordinated with other ministries and federal agencies to prepare the draft budget for the fiscal year 2016 in line with the budget plan of 2014- 2016 and in accordance with specified schedules in the constitution, also in line with the strategies of the federal government.

The MoF has also conducted a number of workshops for the ministries and federal agencies on preparing the draft budget for the fiscal year 2016 in accordance with the strategic objectives of the MoF to achieve optimum utilisation of financial resources of the federal government as well as practice transparency in presentation of financial statements, and linking spending to achieving the strategic objectives of various sectors.