Maktoum bin Mohammed reviews the Ministry of Finance’s annual report for the year 2025, entitled "Financial efficiency and global impact"
DUBAI, 7 JUNE / WAM / His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, reviewed the annual report of the Ministry of Finance for the year 2025, entitled: “Financial Efficiency and Global Impact.”
The report monitors the Ministry’s progress in formulating government financial policy and directing development paths, reviewing the most prominent achievements achieved during the past year, and the financial indicators that reflect the strength of the national economy and its ability to grow sustainably. It also highlights the achievement of the goals of financial sustainability and global leadership in line with the goals of the “We Are the Emirates 2031” and “UAE Centennial 2071” objectives.
His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum stressed that the UAE, with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and his brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, continues to establish a unique global model for sustainable development, based on human empowerment, stimulating innovation, and achieving leadership in all fields. His Highness explained that this wise vision has made the UAE a power. A drive for economic stability and a global model for achieving comprehensive growth, which strengthens the position of the Ministry of Finance as a strategic pillar that leads financial policies supporting the country’s march towards the goals of the “UAE Centenary 2071.”
His Highness said: “The year 2025 was an exceptional year in our journey towards “financial efficiency and global influence,” as we succeeded in transforming global challenges into opportunities for growth and excellence. Our role was not limited to managing resources only, but we focused on enhancing the sustainability of the financial system and developing flexible legislation that kept pace with the rapid digital transformations, and contributed to attracting qualitative investments and building strong strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors.”
His Highness pointed out that the Ministry of Finance has established a system of proactive financial innovation, which relies on engineering digital solutions and artificial intelligence to raise the efficiency of financial decisions and secure financial resources for future generations, stressing that this transformation reflects the Ministry’s constant endeavor to empower the national economy with modern tools that enhance the UAE’s ability to confront global changes, and consolidate its position among the most efficient and transparent financial systems at the international level.
His Highness added: “The UAE continues to contribute to shaping global financial trends, by supporting policies that promote sustainable growth and expand opportunities for cooperation in the financial, economic and investment sectors, within the framework of the country’s commitment to responsible participation in addressing global economic challenges and enhancing the stability of the international financial system.”
His Highness continued: “The Ministry of Finance’s annual report for 2025 reflects the qualitative transformation witnessed by the UAE’s financial system, through adopting flexible and sustainable financial policies based on efficiency, innovation, and readiness for the future, which supports the competitiveness of the national economy and enhances the UAE’s position globally.”
In turn, His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said: “The year 2025 was a pivotal milestone in translating the vision of our wise leadership into a tangible reality, as the Ministry of Finance continued its role as a strategic partner in advancing sustainable development, by establishing flexible financial policies that strengthened the national economy and raised the efficiency of managing federal financial resources, in line with national directions to create a financial future characterized by flexibility and leadership.”
His Excellency stressed that this firm commitment places on the Ministry the responsibility of developing innovative financial policies that balance financial discipline and comprehensive economic growth, noting that the Ministry focused during the year 2025 on modernizing the legislative and tax frameworks that ensure the stability of the UAE’s financial position, and at the same time support the business environment, which contributes to achieving the goals of the “We Are the Emirates 2031 Vision” aimed at strengthening the country’s position as a leading global financial center.
In terms of enhancing sovereign resources, His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini explained that the Ministry of Finance continued its efforts to develop advanced financing tools and a fair and transparent tax system in line with the highest international standards, which has strengthened the confidence of global institutions in the Emirati financial approach, noting that this path does not only aim to support the federal budget, but in essence seeks to secure the sustainability of resources for future generations, and to ensure the state’s ability to finance major transformational projects in a way that supports the process of sustainable growth in the various economic sectors in the country.
During the year 2025, the Ministry of Finance continued to consolidate its position as a leading body in developing the government financial system, by implementing balanced financial policies that enhanced financial sustainability and raised the efficiency of government resource management, as the federal budget for 2025 amounted to about 71.5 billion dirhams with balanced revenues and expenditures, while the government adopted the general federal budget plan for 2026 with a total of 92.4 billion dirhams, an increase of 29% over the 2025 budget, reflecting the strength of the economy. National financial policy flexibility and its ability to support future development paths.
The report monitored the continued development of non-oil revenues through modernizing the tax system, enhancing tax compliance, and expanding the scope of international agreements, in a way that supports the UAE’s competitiveness and enhances the sustainability of public revenues.
The report also reviewed the launch of the 2025 Union General Budget Annual Book entitled “Empowering the Future of Future Generations,” which included financial and non-financial analyzes that enhance transparency and raise awareness of the state’s financial priorities.
The report included a presentation of the comprehensive development witnessed by the Ministry of Finance of the financial legislative and regulatory framework, through issuing and updating an integrated system of laws and decisions related to taxes, government revenues, and public finance, which enhanced transparency and financial certainty and raised the efficiency of the tax system. These efforts also included developing and updating a package of financial policies, frameworks, and government accounting standards, and issuing guides and guiding frameworks that support financial sustainability and digital transformation, in a way that enhances the efficiency of financial governance and the reliability of government financial reports, and supports the application of international best practices. In preparing reports and financial statements on an accrual basis, in addition to activating the system of committees and work teams that support government financial decision-making.
As part of the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to enhance financial sustainability and diversify sources of income, the report reviewed the developments witnessed in the federal tax system, including modernizing corporate tax legislation, value-added tax, and excise tax, developing the electronic invoicing system, and adopting the graduated volumetric model for excise tax on sweetened beverages.
The report also indicated that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development classified the country’s minimum local supplementary tax as an “approved qualified transitional status,” which enhances the UAE’s competitiveness and aligns its tax system with the best international standards. The Ministry also continued to develop frameworks supporting government financial sustainability, which contributes to enhancing the efficiency of long-term financial planning and raising the readiness of government agencies to keep pace with future economic and financial changes.
At the level of debt markets, the report indicated that the Ministry recorded an exceptional year in the Islamic Treasury Sukuk programme, with the implementation of 9 auctions that achieved high coverage and reached a total value of 9.9 billion dirhams. The year 2025 also witnessed the launch of the “Individual Sukuk” initiative, which represented a pivotal step towards enhancing financial inclusion, and provided citizens and residents with a direct and easy investment opportunity, with fractional investments starting from 4,000 dirhams, after signing strategic partnerships with three national banks to allow subscription through their digital platforms, which are Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, and Emirates Islamic Bank.
As part of the Ministry of Finance’s direction towards building an advanced digital financial system, the report highlighted the launch and development of a group of digital initiatives and technical projects that aimed to raise the efficiency of government financial operations and enhance data quality and speed of decision-making. Among the most prominent of these initiatives is the development of federal financial systems and the use of artificial intelligence techniques in analyzing financial data through the “Virtual Mona” project, in addition to developing digital financial frameworks and guides and updating government financial procedures and policies in a way that supports spending efficiency and quality of financial data, accelerating government decision-making and improving customer experience, in line with the government’s directions in Bureaucracy whistles.
Regarding the country’s global partnerships, the report included a review of the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to enhance the UAE’s presence on the international financial arena, by holding 29 rounds of negotiations with partner countries, signing 6 agreements to protect and encourage investments, and expanding the network of agreements to avoid double taxation. The Ministry also continued its active role in supporting international cooperation in the areas of tax transparency and financial compliance, by joining multilateral international agreements related to crypto-assets and automatic exchange of information, and 4 strategic financial dialogues were held with countries including the Russian Federation. The Swiss Confederation and Azerbaijan.
The report also reviewed a number of qualitative achievements that have enhanced the UAE’s global competitiveness, most notably the country’s advancement to 16th place in the world in the “Government Support Index” for the year 2025 in the Global Competitiveness Yearbook issued by (IMD), and the country’s maintenance of strong and stable sovereign credit ratings from major international rating agencies, as the country obtained an (AA-) rating from Fitch, an (Aa2) rating from Moody’s, and an (AA) rating from S&P. Global”, all with a stable future outlook, in addition to its progress in international competitiveness indicators related to government support and the efficiency of financial statements.
The year 2025 also witnessed the Ministry of Finance winning a series of local, regional and international awards in the fields of digital transformation, government innovation, cybersecurity, government procurement, risk management, and institutional excellence, which reflects the Ministry’s success in establishing a culture of innovation and institutional excellence. Among the most prominent of these awards are: the Zeroing Government Bureaucracy Award, 3 Excellence Awards in Procurement from the CIPS Institute, international accreditation as the best work environment (Great Place to Work), and the “Innovation for Impact” Award for the Artificial Intelligence Applications category in The financial sector, within the activities of the “Artificial Intelligence for Public Good Summit”, organized by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with United Nations agencies at the Palexpo International Exhibition and Convention Center in Geneva.
The report also indicated that the country was removed from the Brazilian Republic’s list of countries that apply preferential tax systems, and that the country was removed from the European Union’s list of high-risk third countries in the field of money laundering and terrorist financing, which reflects the growing international confidence in the efficiency of the country’s financial and legislative system.
The report highlighted the Ministry of Finance’s continued investment in developing national competencies and building future capabilities, through specific initiatives and programs aimed at preparing a generation of financial cadres capable of keeping pace with global transformations, noting the Ministry’s launch of the “Emirates Global Cadres” initiative, which targeted Emirati students and employees to introduce themselves to regional and international financial organizations and institutions, and to open the horizons of training and employment in regional and international financial organizations and institutions, through specialized meetings and working sessions in a number of international capitals, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of People’s Republic of China.
The report concluded by noting that the Ministry of Finance continues to work according to a future vision based on adopting the latest financial technologies and enhancing financial sustainability, in addition to developing national competencies and expanding regional and international partnerships, thus enhancing the UAE’s position as a leading global center in public finance and sustainable development.
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