The Dubai's government has ordered its departments to cut spending by 15 per cent to save 3.7 billion dirhams (about Rs 4,602 crore), with the aim of reducing the emirate's deficit, its finance department has said.
Dubai is currently preparing a medium term budget plan for 2011-2013, a finance department official said, adding the government departments are looking to cut costs and expenses without affecting the quality of services.
One of Dubai's largest government-owned conglomerates, Dubai World, announced last year that it was in need of a freeze on about $26 billion of debt leading to market turmoil across the global financial markets.
Dubai has been hit hard by a real estate slump and its debt has prompted bailouts by oil-rich UAE's capital city of Abu Dhabi.
In January, the emirate's government said its 2010 budget revenue would total 29.4 billion dirhams ($8 billion, down 12 per cent from last year's estimate of 33.5 billion dirhams ($9.11 billion).
The government's expenditure is expected to be 6.1 per cent lower than the figure envisaged for 2009 at 35.4 billion ($9.63 billion). Dubai had forecast its first ever deficit for its 2009 budget at 1.3 per cent of its 2007 GDP.
