President Sheikh Mohamed on Wednesday waived the debts of 222 Emiratis, amounting to more than Dh139.8 million, before Eid Al Adha.
The relief has been extended through the Defaulted Debts Settlement Fund, with beneficiaries including retirees and social support recipients.
The move is part of efforts to promote social welfare and development by easing financial burdens, state news agency Wam reported.
Debts of about Dh86.4 million will be waived for 132 retirees, while 90 citizens will be exempted under the social support category from repaying debts amounting to Dh53.4 million.
The move follows a similar decision announced before the UAE’s 53rd National Day last year. At the time, debts worth Dh401 million were cleared for 1,277 Emiratis.
Mortgages written off
In Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, waived Dh101 million in mortgage debt for 303 Emiratis.
The initiative aimed to support citizens and improve their quality of life, Dubai Media Office reported.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Mobile phone packages comparison
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
