DUBAI: Dubai approved a 2025-2027 budget on Tuesday with 272 billion dirham ($74.06 billion) of expenditure, the biggest in the emirate’s history, against revenues of 302 billion dirhams, its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, said in a post on X.
Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates and a regional trade and tourism hub, allocated 46% of its spending to infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, and water drainage networks.
The Gulf city said in June that it would spend 30 billion dirhams ($8.2 billion) to boost its rainwater drainage system, after it was hit in April by the heaviest downpours recorded in the UAE in 75 years.
The infrastructure spending also includes a new airport. Sheikh Mohammed approved in April the airport’s new passenger terminal, which is worth 128 billion dirhams ($35 billion).
Al Maktoum International Airport will be the largest in the world with an annual capacity of up to 260 million passengers, and will be five times the size of Dubai International Airport, which is already one of the world’s busiest, the sheikh said at the time.
Sheikh Mohammed said 30% of the budget would be spent on health, education, and other public services.
He added that next year’s budget would achieve an operating surplus of 21% of total revenues for the first time.