PUBLIC DEBT OFFICE IN DUBAI

Dubai will set up a public debt management office to monitor and manage the Emirate’s debts in line with the one being planned on a federal level, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee of Dubai, said. While at the federal level, urgent steps are being taken to address the gaps in the UAE’s legal and regulatory infrastructure, Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee, which was set up to oversee the emirate’s fiscal policies, will launch a comprehensive programme to address vulnerabilities in Dubai’s financial system, Shaikh Ahmed said in his address to the Middle East North Africa and South Asia. The UAE government plans to issue a public debt management law later this year. Following this, it will establish a debt management office to coordinate the raising of debt for Government Related Entities, he said at the inaugural forum. A draft Public Draft Debt Law passed by the Federal National Council in 2009 stipulates that the total value of the country’s public debt should not be more than 45 per cent of GDP or Dh300 billion, whichever was less.