UAE's record federal budget reflects ramped up growth

AMBITIOUS FISCAL PLAN UNDERPINNED BY STRONG ECONOMIC PROJECTIONS

- BY JUSTIN VARGHESE

The UAE has approved a record 2026 federal budget of Dh92.4 billion ($25.2 billion), its largest since the nation's founding, in a move that signals growing confidence in its economic model and sustained push to diversify beyond oil.

The budget, which is perfectly balanced between revenues and expenditures, builds on a decade of prudent fiscal management. By prioritising infrastructure, education, health care, housing, and technology, the it sustains both economic momentum and social progress.

The UAE's economy is projected to grow 4.8 per cent in 2025, the fastest rate in the Gulf region, according to World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In September, the UAE Central Bank revised its own 2025 growth forecast upward to 4.9 per cent, from 4.4 per cent previously.