MoF holds workshop on IMF Fiscal Monitor in Dubai

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business

The Ministry of Finance (MoF), in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recently held a workshop on IMF Fiscal Monitor report which is published twice a year, on its premises in Dubai.
The report analyses the latest public finance developments on an international level, the impact of the recession on several countries, in addition to the medium-term fiscal outlook and assessing the effects of fiscal policies for assessing sustainability. The workshop falls in line with the Ministry’s strategy to review the financial and economic developments with different countries to create prudent fiscal policies.
The workshop was conducted by Dr. Abdelhak Senhadji, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) at IMF; in the presence of a number of Heads of departments and experts from MoF.
Commenting on the workshop, HE Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary of International Financial Relations at MoF stressed the importance of holding similar workshops to evaluate the impact of global and local economic changes, in line with adopting policies that protect the local economy. HE Al Bustani added: “The Gulf Cooperation Council adopted a number of financial measures to cope with the decline of oil prices and lack of liquidity, in order to implement policies for economic diversification and financial reforms, as well as encourage the private sector to raise contributions to GDP. This promotes economic growth and helps in achieving sustainable financial stability.”
The workshop covered several topics including discussions on GCC countries’ developments, oil and non-oil GDP, the most important economic and financial challenges, the global debt which has hit a high record, in addition to the role of fiscal policy for promoting economic development.
The UAE economy maintains strong growth and has received great attention on regional and global levels. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of IMF during her visit last February to the UAE praised the country’s prudent fiscal policies that raise its competiveness levels, making the UAE the second largest economy in the region and 17th globally according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) indicators.