H.H. Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, held a meeting with Jasim Bu Attaba Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Department of Finance and several officials, where he was briefed on the Department of Finance’s medium-term fiscal plan 2020-2025.
The plan focuses on preserving the economic climate and accelerating the economic growth to reflect Abu Dhabi’s fiscal strength and resilience.
The mid-term plan comes with a clear vision of economic diversification, efficient expenditure and revenue management and a medium-term debt management strategy as crucial pillars of the fiscal plan.
Sheikh Khalid was also briefed on the Department of Finance’s efforts during recent months and with the backdrop of global uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reiterating the emirate’s fiscal strength, modest levels of debt and solid asset base.
Sheikh Khalid issued a directive to continue prioritising spending on whatever helps improves the lives of citizens and residents and creates economic and social solutions that enable individuals and companies of all sizes to overcome current challenges by turning them into opportunities.
He also instructed the department, being the main partner to all government entities, to inculcate a culture of fiscal excellence, as part of the collective effort to support Abu Dhabi’s fiscal strength and resilience, and implement the leadership’s vision for a prosperous economy after oil.
The department will continue to execute Abu Dhabi’s medium-term debt management strategy that optimises the capital structure of the emirate, tapping into diverse funding sources whilst maintaining the current credit ratings. Abu Dhabi’s economy is the only AA rated sovereign in the region.
Recently, Abu Dhabi successfully issued US$7 billion and US$3 billion multi-tranche sovereign bonds. The bonds were executed on time to seize the available market opportunity and favourable financing conditions.Abu Dhabi has also maintained conservative levels of debt, with total Government debt at 12.1 percent of the GDP at the end of 2019, which is amongst the lowest in the world and is testament to the emirate’s prudent fiscal and debt management policies.