Dubai Can Cut Costs 30% After Spending Like `Arabian House,' Khalfan Says - Bloomberg

Dubai’s Chief of Police and head of the budget committee Dahi Khalfan said the emirate can cut spending by 30 percent, five months after it pledged to save $1 billion this year in government expenses.

“We have been extremely spoilt,” Khalfan said late yesterday in an interview. “In our budget we spend like an Arabian house, with all its generous hospitality.”

Dubai in March ordered government departments to curb spending this year to reduce the size of the emirate’s expected 6 billion dirham ($1.6 billion) budget deficit. Departments were told to reduce spending by 15 percent to save about $1 billion. Further savings could be made in “construction, events and activities, travel costs, hospitality and official missions outside the country,” Khalfan said.