Sharjah sets its largest budget for 2015

28 Jan 2015

(MENAFN) The emirate of Sharjah has set its expenditure in the 2015 budget at USD4.81 billion, which is the highest value in the emirate history and is higher 12 percent compared with last year, Gulf News reported.

The record expenditure will be allocated for various economic sectors, with economic development accounting for 45 percent of the budget, as the emirate works on improving Sharjah’s competitiveness in the field of economy, particularly following the growth of 22 percent the economic development sector recorded compared to last year.

The council said that the government revenue, which is quite diverse, does not rely on just one source for revenue like oil, adding that the operating income of government institutions, departments and authorities accounted for 92 per cent of the revenue structure, while capital revenue comprised 3 per cent of total government revenue.

The new budget, which was approved by the Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, also includes providing a thousand jobs for Emiratis in government bodies with an aim to increase emiratisation and provide jobs for new graduates.

“The infrastructure sector received an allocation of 34 per cent of expenditures, an increase of 1 per cent from last year. The education and culture sector was given 11 per cent allocation, a 17 per cent increase from 2014, while the government administration sector received 10 per cent in order to ensure the welfare of Emiratis and increase the emiratisation rate,” Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah said.