Strong economic principles help UAE adapt to oil slump

DUBAI / WAM

The Ministry of Finance (MoF), in cooperation with the Prime Minister’s Office and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), held a high-level closed session on economic diversification, on the sidelines of the World Government Summit 2017. The session aimed to discuss challenges and solutions to support thought-leaders during the implementation of economic diversification policies and change the economic models to build economies based on innovation and knowledge in the region.
Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, headed the session which was attended by a number of ministers of finance and Arab central bank governors, including Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Dr Bandar bin Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General, Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund and heads of global and regional economic and financial institutions.
During his opening speech, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer stressed the need to develop sustainable government revenues by depending on alternative resources, controlling expenditure and adjusting financials to drive economic growth, while maintaining global financial and economic stability.
Christine Lagarde highlighted that strong economic principles support UAE to adapt to new oil prices. She also highlighted that the country will maintain its successful performance in the future by considering structural reforms to increase economic diversification, enhance business and public resources and strengthen public institutions.
She also discussed that reducing the UAE dependency on oil, strengthening the private sector and increasing job opportunities can be achieved through the implementation of strong macroeconomic policies, maintaining an active working environment and improving the quality of education.
Al Tayer said: “The decline in oil prices in the UAE led to a number of opportunities for the economic restructuring, promoting economic diversification policies, which were laid down since the early eighties by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, followed by the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. These policies play an important role in promoting sources of income, building a knowledge based economy, with a strong spirit of excellence and innovation.”