ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has been saddled with a huge
defense budget.
Industry sources said the UAE budget surplus has been eroded by the
purchase of billions of dollars in weapons from Britain, France and the
United States. The sources said the defense budget has reached 20 percent of
overall spending.
The UAE Central Bank reported that $6.45 billion was spent on defense
and security in 2005. This amounted to 19.4 percent of overall spending of
$33.3 billion that year.
The sources said the same proportion was spent on defense in 2006. The
UAE has ordered more than $10 billion worth of Western weaponry, including
80 F-16s, six naval corvettes and attack helicopters.
Henry Azzam, chief executive officer of the Saudi-based Amwal
Investment, said the UAE recorded the highest growth — 10.2 percent — in
Gross Domestic Product in 2006. Qatar and Kuwait followed with a GDP
increase of 7.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.
Azzam said Qatar would lead in GDP growth in 2007 with 8.6 percent,
followed by the UAE with 7.2 percent.
