Coronavirus: The UAE government launches a special committee to offset the economic impact of COVID-19

• Members
• Mechanism
• Measures

With countries across the world going under lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus pandemic, there are growing concerns about the financial and economic implications of these measures. The UAE government has taken proactive steps to address such concerns and has formed a committee that will take effective steps to address the impact of COVID-19 on the UAE economy.

Who does the committee include?

Presided by Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, the committee includes representatives from various government bodies to deal with the many economic implications that the pandemic has caused in the national economy.

How will the UAE committee work?

The committee will take initiatives required to provide a sustainable impetus to the UAE economy amid the outbreak. The following tasks have been assigned t the committee to circumvent the financial implications of the pandemic.

• Submit suggestions to increase productivity
• Propose plans for business continuity while safeguarding community welfare
• Co-ordinate with federal and local authorities to implement the proposed plans
• Keep a check on whether plans are implemented as per the objectives
• Assess the impact of the measures

Measures to mitigate the Coronavirus impact on the UAE economy

Recently, many stimulus packages in the UAE have been launched by the government to tackle the economic repercussions of the outbreak. The AED 126.5 billion packages by the Abu Dhabi and Dubai government and the reduction in DEWA utility bills are some of them.

Complementing these initiatives, the committee has also approved an AED 16 billion stimulus package. It is expected that the committee will take more such initiatives in the future to fight the effects of the pandemic on the value of UAE currency.

To offset the impact of the COVID-19 in the UAE, the government has taken more measures in the country. These include the suspension of public transport facilities during designated hours and commencement of disinfection drives in Dubai. Both of them will, hopefully, contribute to reducing the cases of coronavirus in the UAE and help flatten the curve, making sure healthcare facilities are not overwhelmed.

For both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, there are various coronavirus testing facilities in Dubai.