“Finance” is studying a parliamentary proposal to increase the limit on bank loans for senior citizens
NBK agrees to allocate 1.2 billion dirhams for the government’s handling of developments
During the 13th “National” session headed by Ghobash.
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The Federal National Council approved, during its session yesterday, a federal draft law on “approving a supplementary budget to the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022”, with a total of 1.23 billion dirhams, for the government to deal with developments that have occurred and required the provision of financial allocations, to implement new federal projects and programs or to strengthen programs A list that arranges financial obligations on the federal authorities, most notably “covering the cost of early retirement at the Emirates Education Foundation for the year 2022”, and providing “Covid-19” examination services for students and educational staff in Dubai and the northern emirates, which would support the educational sector in the country.
During the session, the Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Muhammad bin Hadi Al-Husseini, pledged to study a parliamentary proposal submitted by the First Vice-President of the Council, Hamad Ahmed Al-Rahoumi, to raise the “borrowing limit” for senior citizens, in order to help them facilitate meeting their personal financial needs from banks if they wish to take loans. Personal, stressing that the laws, regulations, and instructions of the Central Bank of the UAE do not include any specific requirements related to the age of the loan applicant, while the Council agreed to send its parliamentary recommendations that it adopted on the topics of “Policy of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure” and “Policy of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Program” » To the government to take the necessary action in their regard.
In detail, the Federal National Council held its 13th session of the third ordinary session of the 17th legislative term, yesterday, headed by the Speaker of the Council, Saqr Ghobash, which was devoted to discussing two federal bills, the first regarding “amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 26 of 2019 regarding finance.” General”, and the second on “Approving a supplementary budget for the Federation’s general budget for the fiscal year 2022”, in the presence of the Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Muhammad bin Hadi Al-Husseini, and a number of ministry officials and government representatives.
The session began with a parliamentary question from the First Deputy Speaker of the Federal National Council, Hamad Ahmed Al-Rahoumi, to the Minister of State for Financial Affairs, about “financial loans to senior citizens,” during which he stressed that some financial institutions in the country do not grant senior citizens the facilities and loans they request on an equal basis. As you do with the rest of the citizens, wondering about the measures taken by the Central Bank in this regard?
The minister replied: “With regard to granting loans and facilities by banks and finance companies to citizens and non-nationals, banks and finance companies are required to carry out their activities in accordance with the laws, regulations and instructions of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and these regulations and instructions do not include specific requirements regarding the age of the loan applicant. As the process of granting loans and facilities is carried out on a commercial basis, it depends to a large extent on the extent to which banks accept risks in accordance with their internal policies and procedures, noting that the Central Bank has taken a set of measures to ensure the continuity of serving customers of banks and other financial institutions regardless of age, and to provide services appropriate and at reasonable rates.
He added: “In October 2019, the Central Bank amended the mortgage loan system by canceling the age requirement regardless of the borrower’s nationality at the time of paying the last payment. The age was previously set at 70 years for citizens and 65 years for non-citizens, provided that the age is determined by the lender according to Risk management policy, and in November 2020, the Central Bank issued a consumer protection system in accordance with best practices and international standards, which aims to create a culture based on respect for clients of banks and other financial institutions, work to achieve their best interests, and place obligations on banks and other financial institutions to ensure the protection of their clients And the application of the necessary mechanisms for handling complaints, and the system also includes an article that allows banks to analyze age data in order to measure the level of access to financial services, and use the results to achieve equality in the financial services provided.
Al-Rahoumi commented on the minister’s response, saying: “When we talk about senior citizens, they are people who are distinguished by vitality, activity, health and ambition, and are responsible for families and managing the house from a financial point of view.” With the banks and issuing the appropriate decisions for them and their families, providing special privileges for the elderly and taking into account the articles contained in the Senior Citizens Law on managing their lives with complete independence and making their own decisions, including their property and financial affairs.
The proposals also included “raising the age for granting loans to 75 years, studying each request or case independently, accepting the guarantee of children or relatives up to the second degree, increasing the discount rate from the retirement salary from 30% to 50% with guarantees, and reducing interests and profits. and raising the insurance age for loans.
In turn, the minister responded to Al-Rahoumi’s comment by saying: In February 2021, the Central Bank issued standards for consumer protection, which include specific requirements that obligate banks and financial institutions to set texts for their rules of conduct, to ensure that they carry out their work with integrity, honesty and professionalism towards all customers, and the standards obligate banks and financial institutions with annual training plans to train Employees should take into account equality when providing financial services, pledging to study a parliamentary proposal to raise the “borrowing limit” for senior citizens, in order to help them facilitate meeting their personal financial needs from banks if they wish to take personal loans.
The Council approved a draft federal law on “approving a supplementary budget to the general budget of the Federation for 2022” to address developments that occurred and required the provision of financial allocations, to implement new federal projects and programs or to strengthen existing programs that arrange financial obligations on the federal authorities, represented in “payment of the obligations of the Emirates Real Estate Corporation in favor of a bank Emirates Development as a result of financing the buildings of the federal authorities, covering the cost of early retirement at the Emirates Education Foundation for the year 2022, financing the implementation of the digital transformation project for the services system of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation during the period (2024-2022), providing Covid-19 examination services for students and educational staff in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Which would support the educational sector in the state”, which resulted in the preparation of the draft law.
The draft law included two articles, the first, which stipulated that “the estimates of the Federation’s general budget revenues for the fiscal year (2022) shall be increased by an amount of 374 million and 980 thousand dirhams, and without modification, the estimates of the general budget expenditures of the Federation for the fiscal year (2022) shall be increased by an amount of one billion and 232 million dirhams. And 358 thousand dirhams, according to the data contained in the tables attached to this law, and the difference is financed from the general reserve,” while the second article stipulated that “this law shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall be enforced from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2022.”
According to the table attached to the draft law, the supplementary budget expenditures totaling one billion and 232 million and 358 thousand dirhams were distributed on the items “compensation of employees in some federal agencies” at an amount of 33 million and 790 thousand dirhams, and additional commodity and service requirements with a total of 30 million and 431 thousand dirhams, and subsidies in a total 39 million dirhams, grants amounting to 569 million and 500 thousand dirhams, and other federal expenses amounting to 357 million and 530 thousand dirhams, in addition to 68 million and 207 thousand dirhams in fixed assets, and 106 million and 900 thousand dirhams in financial assets.
On the topic of topics received from the committees, the Council agreed to refer the parliamentary recommendations that it adopted on the topic of “Sheikh Zayed Housing Program Policy”, to the Council of Ministers to take the necessary action in this regard, which included 18 recommendations in five main sectors, including eight recommendations in “legislation and policies” and systems.”
Major improvements and improvements
The Federal National Council approved a federal draft law on “amending some provisions of Federal Law No. 26 of 2019 in the matter of public finance,” to comply with the accounting standards approved on the accrual basis of accounting, instead of the modified cash basis accounting system, as the draft law included Two sets of amendments, the first “fundamental amendments” aimed at developing the legislative environment in force in the country in order to achieve the requirements of the transition to the accrual-based accounting system.
While the second group was concerned with "other improvement modifications".
Infrastructure Recommendations
The Federal National Council agreed to refer seven parliamentary recommendations that it adopted on the subject of “the policy of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure” to the Council of Ministers to take the necessary action, including setting specific standards and indicators for controlling the axial weights of heavy vehicles to protect roads from the negative effects of these weights, with the aim of maintaining on road sustainability.
The list of recommendations also included preparing a unified database on infrastructure, roads and dams, and working on archiving data and information electronically, to enable the concerned authorities in times of emergencies, crises and disasters to benefit from it in order to avoid potential risks to which it may be exposed.
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