The UAE cabinet on 27 October approved the 2014 federal budget with total expenditure of Dh46.2bn ($12.6bn), of which more than half is allocated to welfare.

The original 2013 budget had projected expenditure at Dh44.6bn (Dh12.1bn), but the government raised this total by an additional Dh700mn ($191mn) last September to complete development projects. (CONTINUED - 351 WORDS)