UAE: MoF Launches Economic Research Initiative

The Ministry of Finance, MoF, has launched an initiative to conduct studies by experts in managing the overall economy and the Ministry’s financial policies. Research papers will be published in international scientific journals.

The initiative was launched after publishing two distinguished research papers in the ‘International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues’, IJEFI, journal, one of the most prominent international scientific and academic journals covering current financial and economic topics.

The first research paper is entitled, ‘Gulf Cooperation Council Stock Returns and the Effect of Domestic Monetary Policy Shocks’, and analyses the effect of monetary policy on stock returns and stock return variability in the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as the monetary union project. The research also covered the contribution of linking GCC currencies to the Dollar to maintain macro-economic stability and provide added value to the stock markets, specifically in countries with a flexible peg (Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia).

The second research paper is entitled, ‘Does Financial Development Induce Economic Growth in the UAE? The Role of Foreign Direct Investment and Capitalization’, and investigates the relationship between financial and economic growth in the UAE over the period of 1975 Q1 - 2012 Q4, and referring to the existence of integration between financial development and economic growth. The research also discussed the foreign direct investment, FDI, and the capital’s role as key drivers to economic growth in the country. The paper suggests using FDI, appropriately redesigning financial policy for sustainable economic growth. The study highlighted that achieving the wise leaderships’ economic vision requires local governments' combined efforts, especially with the UAE being a destination for foreign investors.

Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Under-Secretary of Resources and Budget Sector at MoF, said, "The Ministry of Finance is determined to continue its efforts to strengthen institutional work based on foundations of a sound financial plan. The Ministry recently launched the Emirates Gate of the Government Finance Statistics, GFS, report, which provides decision makers with accurate information and data in a timely manner. The report also allows decision makers to plan for financial policies and make effective decisions based on accurate data. The system also provides an advanced and unified electronic database for the country to ensure integration in the financial statements for different sectors that will result in a level of transparency."

Abeer Al Abdooli, Director of the Financial Policies Coordination Department, said, "The Emirates Gate of GFS reports have worked on electronically connecting the federal government’s system to that of UAE local governments, whereby four quarterly financial reports were prepared as well as the UAE’s yearly financial report. The system also contributed to establishing an integrated financial database to develop different financial reports, particularly financial analysis reports."