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Media-In-Sharjah – 9 December 2018 / WAM /
His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, today approved the general budget of the Emirate for the fiscal year 2019 with a total expenditure of about 25.7 billion dirhams, a growth of 10 percent compared to the budget of 2018.
The next year’s budget aims to improve welfare and happiness, provide the best services, enhance financial sustainability, competitiveness of the emirate and improve macroeconomic indicators by adopting many strategic goals and indicators with an economic, social, scientific and cultural dimension.
The main objectives of the budget are to promote investment in the infrastructure of the Emirate and to provide social support in various forms and methods that serve the citizens and address their living needs and ensure their social stability and economic well-being, in addition to the growing interest in the human resources and human resources and enhance their role in the construction and sustainable development that the budget aims to achieve during the fiscal year 2019.
In terms of analyzing the current budget components for 2019, salaries and wages accounted for 43 percent of the total operating budget for 2019, an increase of 3 percent over 2018, while the expenses accounted for 53 percent for 2019 and a growth rate of 12 percent from the budget of 2018.
Capital expenditures accounted for about 4 percent of the 2019 operating budget. In general, the operating budget achieved a growth rate of 7 percent for 2019 compared to 2018. These are also indicators that reflect the government’s interest in providing the financial capacity of government agencies to achieve their strategic and operational objectives.
In terms of government revenues, these revenues constitute the main source of funding for the general budget. The government has taken an exceptional interest in the development of these revenues, improving the efficiency of collection, developing tools and technical and intelligent methods that reinforce this trend, and analyzing the trends of public revenues. Of the total revenue budget for 2019, achieving growth of 6 percent compared to 2018.
Capital revenue was 13 percent for 2019, an increase of 14 percent over 2018. Customs revenues accounted for 4 percent for 2019, while oil and gas revenues accounted for about 3 percent of the total revenue budget for 2019, an increase of 100 percent over 2018.
Tax revenues accounted for about 12 percent of total public revenues and were significantly higher than tax revenues for 2018 due to the Government of Sharjah’s expectation that it would receive its share of the added summit tax, which began to be collected from the beginning of 2018.
