Government Spending and Non-Oil Economic Growth in the UAE

The present paper studies empirically the relationship between government spending and non-oil economic growth in the UAE for the last four decades by using the vector autoregression (VAR) approach. The findings of the study suggest that the implementation of expansionary policy, through the intensification of current and development public expenditures, induces an increase in the non-oil economic growth during the subsequent periods of the government spending shock. Thus, the implementation of expansionary government spending stimulates the UAE economy, especially during recession periods. The study suggests that policymakers should concentrate their spending on the right projects, as well as on research and development. Moreover, they should channel their transfers and subsidies to the productive sectors, and they should ensure that higher productivity in public institutions is in conjunction with the rise in wages and salaries to achieve sustainable economic growth.