Dubai Unveils AED 302.7 billion Multi-year Budget

Dubai’s leadership has approved a landmark three-year fiscal plan totalling AED 302.7 billion in expenditure and AED 329.2 billion in projected revenues for the 2026-2028 period, marking the largest budget cycle in the emirate’s history. The approval came under Law No. 15 of 2025, signed off by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in his capacity as Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and as Ruler of Dubai. The budget for the first year of the cycle, 2026, sets out AED 99.5 billion in spending against AED 107.7 billion in revenues, with a general reserve component of AED 5 billion.

This fiscal blueprint is designed to drive Dubai’s ambition of doubling its GDP and establishing itself among the world’s top three urban economies within the next decade, according to Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The plan places a heavy emphasis on future-focused sectors and diversifying away from conventional revenue streams by investing in digital transformation, artificial intelligence and space research.

Sectoral allocations reinforce this strategic shift. The 2026 budget dedicates 48 per cent of total spending to infrastructure projects, encompassing roads, bridges, public transport and utility networks. Social development — covering health, education, housing, family welfare and sports — receives 28 per cent, while the security, justice and safety sectors account for 18 per cent of the total. Government development initiatives — aimed at boosting institutional performance, innovation and shared services — take up the remaining 6 per cent.

The Dubai Department of Finance emphasises that the budget incorporates a “flexible, scalable financial plan” to enhance fiscal sustainability and competitiveness. Among the mechanisms in play is alignment with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2033 and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, both of which call for deepening the emirate’s knowledge-economy credentials, scaling entrepreneurship and adopting disciplined finances. The DOF reports an expected operating surplus of up to 5 per cent of Dubai’s projected GDP for 2026 under this budget cycle.

The emphasis on digital governance is explicit. The DOF highlights initiatives such as the Financial Data Platform for transparent and timely public-finance access, and the Dubai Cashless Strategy — part of the drive toward positioning the emirate as a global benchmark in secure, smart payments. Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards is another facet of the push toward international best practices in public finance.

Infrastructure investment remains the backbone of the plan. Officials note that allocating nearly half of first-year spending to hard projects underpins the government’s view that upgrading transport and utility networks is critical for sustaining tourism, trade and logistics growth. At the same time, investment in AI, space and digital entrepreneurship is intended to anchor the emirate’s longer-term economic evolution.