FNC passes federal budget for 2014

Obaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said ministries needing more money could negotiate with the Cabinet. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

ABU DHABI // The federal budget for next year has been passed by the Federal National Council - despite concerns about shortfalls in some areas.
Members approved the Dh46 billion spending plan but said it did not meet the needs of all ministries.
The criticisms came during a four-hour debate on Tuesday with Obaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, after the FNC's financial committee studied the figures.
Members said ministries including health, education, the environment and social affairs would not have enough funding for programmes set out by the FNC and approved by the Cabinet.
They also said the budget focused more on ministerial salaries than programmes and services for the people.
The FNC Speaker, Mohammed Al Murr (Dubai), said he was sure the budget calculations were done well but that social needs had not been taken into consideration.
After the Government agreed to the FNC's social developmental recommendations, it should have set a budget for this, he said.
Mr Al Tayer said the budget was only set after talks were held with each ministry, which set out their needs for the coming year.
All shortfalls in pressing sectors would be dealt with, he said, and that the doors were open for any later negotiations to provide additional funds needed, as in past years.
He said the Dh40bn budget for 2011 was increased to Dh42bn, last year's budget was set at Dh45bn but increased to Dh46bn, and this year's Dh44bn budget was increased to more than Dh45bn.
Members highlighted a number of obstacles facing the health sector that needed to be considered, including Emiratisation.
They said low salaries for Emirati physicians working for the Ministry of Health had caused an exodus, pushing doctors to work for other organisations and the private sector, resulting in a severe shortage.
The salary of an Emirati doctor at the ministry was Dh15,000 a month, they said, while in other fields a high school graduate could earn about Dh25,000.
"Figures have proven that this lack of cadres is a real problem that the health sector is suffering from," the council said.
There are 160 doctors for every 100,000 residents and the country needs between 300 and 350 annually to solve this problem and reach a rate in line with developed countries, which is 230 per 100,000.
Mr Al Tayer said an agreement would soon be signed with the Ministry of Health to prioritise their needs and meet certain cases, including shortages in medication and hospital equipment.
The council then focused on issues relating to education.
Next year's Dh5.9bn budget for the sector is higher than this year's but members were concerned about the state of public schools in the Northern Emirates, a lack of funding for programmes enriching national identity, and ways to attract local teachers.
The minister said that in the past year, teachers collectively received a Dh900 million salary increase, and more than Dh300m was given in promotions.
At last month's Cabinet retreat, a job ladder to help attract Emiratis to teaching was discussed, but a budget for the project had not yet been set.
A number of other education overhauls also decided at the retreat will soon be discussed by the Cabinet, which will decide when and how much would be spent on the programmes. After that, an additional education budget will be set.
"I cannot talk about the recommendations from the retreat, they will still be spoken about in the Cabinet," Mr Al Tayer said. "Some will be executed in 2014, some over three years, some later. Spending on programmes will be clearer in the future."
Members also asked why all emirates did not contribute to the federal budget, but the minister said that was a decision made by the Cabinet and the Supreme Council, not by his office.
Members said they were unable to look into other ministries budgets individually as the federal budget only came to them in mid-November, although the constitution states that it should be sent to them two months before the next fiscal year.
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