The United Arab Emirates' federal budget deficit has swollen to 2.8 billion dirhams ($762 million) in January-June, far above the government's original forecast for the shortfall, because of lower-than-expected revenue, a top finance ministry official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Younis al-Khouri, undersecretary and director-general at the ministry, said revenue was 17.98 billion dirhams in the first six months of this year, or 43 percent of the planned amount for all of 2012, the Al Ittihad daily reported. Expenditure was 20.79 billion dirhams, half of the projection for this year.
The ministry wants to focus on austerity measures and prioritising expenditures because of the half-year deficit, the newspaper reported.
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