UAE surplus tops $46 billion in first nine months of 2022

The United Arab Emirates posted a fiscal surplus of 169.6 billion dirhams ($46.19 billion) in the first nine months of 2022, a 165% increase from the same period of 2021, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Revenues rose 35.6% from January to end-September 2022 to 453.7 billion dirhams on the back of "strong oil and non-oil growth and favourable oil prices", the Central Bank of the UAE said in a report.
Total spending was up 5% year-on-year to 248.1 billion dirhams in the nine-month period. Capital spending - measuring net investment in non-financial assets - fell nearly 20% to 10.9 billion dirhams.

Current spending rose 6.3% to 273.1 billion dirhams due to "a general increase in all spending categories except subsidies," the central bank said.

The central bank confirmed UAE GDP growth of 7.6% in 2022 and said growth would slow to 3.9% in 2023 mainly on a decline in oil production although non-oil growth will partially offset this. It projects growth at 4.3% in 2024.