UAE – Mubasher: The UAE has provided domestic and overseas grants of AED 19.8 billion in 2018, up 14.7% year-on-year, figures by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) showed.

Total grants provided by the state in the first half of 2018 stood at AED 6.8 billion and reached AED 13 billion in H2-18, according to the CBUAE figures based on the Ministry of Finance's statistics.

In the third quarter of 2018, the GCC nation’s grants totalled AED 7 billion, while it amounted to AED 6.133 billion in Q4-18.

Grants in 2018 accounted for 5% of total government expenditure, including federal and local spending of each emirate, which grew to circa AED 398.3 billion, figures added.