Abu Dhabi has already reduced subsidies to farmers and motorists – and soon everyone else will get a signal that the Government’s eye is on them, too.
New utility bills mandated by Abu Dhabi's water and electricity regulator, starting in January, will make consumers aware of just how much the Government subsidises their consumption – and could be a prelude to a tariff increase already under consideration by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The price for water has not changed since 1995; for electricity, not since 2005.
With prices frozen for so long while global energy markets soared, consumers in Abu Dhabi might have suspected they were getting a bargain. From January, they will know exactly how much of a bargain.
Nationals will learn for the first time that they enjoy an 86 per cent subsidy, while expats pay half the true cost. If an Emirati family pays Dh559 in a month, the Government actually contributes Dh3,361 towards the cost of providing their power and water – what will appear as the "waived cost" on the new bills.
"Building awareness around real costs can increase the readiness of the people to prepare for higher prices which are closer to the real cost," said Christian von Tschirschky, a regional utilities expert with the management consultancy AT Kearney.
Other emirates, which do not enjoy such abundant energy resources, already charge much more for utilities.
Drafts of future utility bills at the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company already include a three-tiered tariff rate that would penalise customers for excessive use by charging a higher rate for units above a certain threshold. Contemplating higher water and electricity bills is part of a wider government plan to reduce subsidies and waste.
In July, the Federal Government raised the price of petrol for the second time in two months. In September, Abu Dhabi cut a subsidy to farmers over the water-thirsty Rhodes grass in Al Gharbia that had cost Dh800 million (US$217.8m) in its first year.
The emirate replaced the subsidies with a smaller incentive programme to encourage farmers to follow regulations or even move to growing organic dates. But this time the focus is on the larger population – everyone who pays for water or electricity in the emirate.
"The subsidised prices here are seen as part of the social costs here in the region," Mr von Tschirschky said. "The population in the past has always seen that as a given thing from the Government."
Raising the cost of utilities in the emirate has the potential to release a large sum of money into the Government's coffers and even attract more eco-friendly developers to the emirate.
Buildings designed for environmental sustainability, which require larger budgets for initial construction but promise a return on investment through savings on utilities, often depend on high energy rates to make them economically viable.
"Energy is too cheap in this part of the world," said Stephan Rosenthal, the managing director at Bayer Middle East. Through its EcoCommercial Building Programme, Bayer has worked on Masdar City, a carbon-neutral development being built near the capital.
"With the ambitious growth objective that the region has, we believe that this will change," Mr Rosenthal said.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
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Rating: 3/5
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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