DUBAI: Abu Dhabi has earmarked $1.9 billion from its 2011 budget for housing loans, the state news agency WAM said, after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahayan called for measures to shore up “social stability”. Abu Dhabi sits on some 10 percent of global oil reserves. Abu Dhabi's local government planned to spend AED207.5 billion ($56.5 billion) last year, around 74 percent of overall fiscal spending in the UAE. According to WAM, Nahayan said Monday that the government sought to provide “adequate and modern housing” for UAE citizens living in Abu Dhabi “to help achieve social stability”. The new housing loans, as well as funding for infrastructure projects, will benefit Emiratis who constitute around 22 percent of Abu Dhabi's 1.8 million population, according to 2009 data. The rest are generally foreign expatriates and migrant workers. Abu Dhabi has been investing billions of dollars in local industry, infrastructure and tourism to diversify its oil-based economy, attracting thousands into the labor force and pushing up demand for housing. Its urban planning council has awarded contracts worth AED21 billion in April to meet the shortage.
