Dubai announces a budget with less expenditure for 2021  

Affected by the pandemic, the economy of Dubai, which had closed its borders for several months, contracted by 10.8 percent in the first half of 2020. For the whole year, the government expects a contraction of 6.2 per cent and growth of 4 per cent in 2021. The new budget "mobilises all the resources to tackle the crisis and return to growth," the authorities stressed in their statement.  

On Sunday, Dubai announced a budget that provides for a reduction in spending for 2021 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the key sectors of tourism and services.  

A pillar of Dubai's economy, tourism and air transport have been particularly hard hit by the health crisis. Dubai, which welcomed more than 16 million visitors in 2019, expected 20 million tourists in 2020 before a drastic reduction in arrivals. The one-year postponement of Dubai's Expo 2020, which was due to start in October, also affected the local economy, as the government expected it to attract millions of tourists.  

In a statement, the government of Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates federation, indicated that the 2021 budget will reach 57.1 billion dirhams, or some 12.7 billion euros, compared to a budget of 14.8 billion euros for 2020. The government forecasts a deficit of some 1.1 billion euros in 2021 against 574 million euros in 2020. 

Containment measures and the exhaustion of tourist flows led to a decrease of 20.2% in the hotel sector and 10.6% in the transport and logistics sector. Emirates, the leading airline in the Middle East and a flagship of the local economy, fell into the red for the first time in three decades, posting half-yearly losses of $3.4 billion (2.8 billion euros). Dubai is currently experiencing the beginnings of a recovery, as pollution cases across the federation have exceeded 200,000, including 655 deaths.  

The ruler of Abu Dhadi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed, has enacted a law establishing the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs to oversee the financial, investment, economic, oil and natural resources affairs of the emirate, the official Emirate news agency WAM reported.   

Abu Dhabi will set up a council that will oversee the strategies and plans of all the emirate's financial, oil and investment businesses, such as ADNOC oil company or Mubadala investment fund, which owns, among others, Spain's Cepsa.  

In addition, the emirate's current Supreme Oil Council will be merged with this new body, which, according to WAM's information, "will allow the boards of the relevant entities administrative autonomy to develop their strategies, which will then be approved by the Council".  

Among the entities under its jurisdiction are the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company, which owns the Spanish oil company.  

Among its functions is to organise, establish and approve Abud Dabi's public policies in these matters, as well as to supervise the performance of all relevant entities to ensure their "compatibility with the general management and plans approved by the board and the leadership of the emirate," it states in a statement, collected by Efe.