No job ban for expats on relatives’ visa in UAE

The UAE does not impose a work ban on expatriate employees sponsored by their relatives in case they want to shift to another job, according to the ministry of labour.A ministry committee discussed several applications for job transfer and exemption of the six-months and one-year ban for some workers at its weekly open-day meeting on Monday.

One application was submitted by a female pharmacist who wants to be sponsored by her husband after the pharmacy where she had worked shut down, according to Alkhaleej newspaper.

The committee told the applicant she can get a new job after transferring visa to her husband and obtaining clearance from the former employer, the paper said.

“The committee made clear that the labour law allows a woman sponsored by her husband to shift to another job without having a work ban because a ban is not applicable on those who are sponsored by their relatives.”

UAE Public debt law - in final stages

The United Arab Emirates should soon approve a law allowing the oil producer to issue its first ever federal sovereign bonds and create a local debt market, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

The long-awaited law, regulating issuance and the amount of debt the world's No3 crude exporter may accumulate, awaits a presidential nod after the UAE's top advisory council passed the bill in December.

"The public debt law is now in final stages for approval and as for the ministry of finance it has already started taking measures after the cabinet's resolution to establish a public debt bureau," Nadia Sultan told a conference in the UAE capital. "It is hopefully very soon," Sultan, an officer in charge of establishing the federal public debt management office, later told Reuters.

The legislation would limit UAE government debt to 25 per cent of gross domestic product, or Dh200 billion ($55bn). The International Monetary Fund projects that UAE government debt, including that of some of its seven emirates, to fall to 16.4 per cent of GDP this year from 21 per cent in 2010.

The federal debt management office is expected to coordinate future issuance with the individual emirates, which until now have been issuers of sovereign bonds in the Gulf Arab country. Sultan also said an issuance plan has been under consideration but neither she nor other finance ministry officials attending the event gave more details, saying the process was still at an early stage.

The UAE minister of state for financial affairs said on Saturday that the Opec member -- rated Aa2 by Moody's -- had no plans to issue a sovereign bond this year but it could do so at the beginning of 2012 if needed.

Saif Hadef Al Shamsi, senior executive director at the central bank's treasury department, told the same event that the ministry should coordinate debt issuance with the central bank as local bonds would drain liquidity from the market. "Any issuance over one year will be handled by the finance ministry," he said. "A problem lies in the legislative field ... as the central bank cannot sell short-term bills to people outside of commercial banks."

FNC approved public debt law in December 2010

The Federal National Council has passed public debt law on Tuesday December 2010, marking a key step toward the issuance of the Gulf Arab state's first sovereign bond.The legislation, which needs presidential approval to become law, limits government debt to 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, or Dh200 billion ($54.45 billion).

An earlier version of the legislation discussed last year had said public debt should not exceed 45 per cent of GDP, or Dh300 billion.

The bill provides a legal framework for creating a government bond market in the UAE with public debt instruments traded on one or more of the country's three financial markets."The bottom line is that the country needed the law not just to plan for a sovereign bond issue but also to revive the local currency debt market," said Abdul Kadir Hussain, chief executive of Mashreq Capital."As such, it is a positive start and hopefully it will help develop a local bond market in the region."

The UAE has said it will consider a federal bond after the passage of the debt law and the creation of a debt management office.Under the new law, the UAE will create a public debt bureau to advise the government on debt issuance and work with the central bank on issuing and selling government bonds and other financial instruments.

"What's the use of the public debt bureau if it doesn't monitor all government guarantees and any government debt?" said Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, minister of state for finance.The law also stipulates that debt issued for infrastructure projects should not exceed 15 per cent of public debt.

The country will look at a range of options, including using existing reserves or returns from government investments to finance a budget deficit of around Dh3 billion ($816.8 million) for 2011, Al Tayer said.

"We will study the budget's revenues," Al Tayer said. "The council has approved the public debt law, but I don't say that we will do this thing or that before we discuss the options in the cabinet."

The minister said returns from the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA), a sovereign wealth fund that manages the federal government's stakes in a number of key corporations including the Gulf's second biggest telecoms firm Etisalat, could be also used to cover the deficit.When asked if the UAE would issue bonds to finance the deficit, Al Tayer said, "only if necessary, it has not been discussed up to now".

Debt laws will put UAE in strong position to raise global finance

New laws on government debt and bonds will make it easier to raise cash, say analyst’s .The new UAE laws on government debt and corporate bonds will make it easier to raise finance for massive projects that are in the pipeline as the country renews its commitment to infrastructure development as a means of fuelling economic growth, analysts said.They also facilitate the job of international evaluation and standardisation of institutions to make possible an accurate classification of the UAE for rating purposes.

The UAE Government can now obtain loans from abroad of up to 45 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), or less than Dh300 billion, after the Federal National Council passed a law to regulate public debt last week.

The regulation also allows local governments of individual emirates to obtain loans that do not exceed 15 per cent of their GDP. The law comes after two years of work that involved senior consultants of the World Bank and a number of international financial experts.Last week, the FNC also passed other laws related to guarantees of deposits, bonds and public debt.The new measures are being seen as key contributors to a comprehensive, integrated fiscal legislation in parallel with the fast-paced growth of the country's economy.

UAE Cabinet decided to limit entry of unskilled expat workers





The cabinet deicded to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE based on their vocational and accredited education degrees

  



The UAE cabinet decided to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE

Abu Dhabi: A set of policies and resolutions to deal with demographic structure in the UAE has been approved by the Cabinet's session Sunday.

The cabinet decided to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE based on their vocational and accredited education degrees.

The meeting was chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Shaikh Mohammad said that demographic structure challenge is given a top priority on the government's agenda.

The cabinet resolution exempts domestic workers or any other categories specified by the Chairman of the Federal Demographics Council (FDC) from qalification condition.

Several other resolutions to deal with demographic structure were issued and approved strategies for dealing with the issue.

Population balance

The resolutions and strategies aim to achieve a population balance in a parallel with comprehensive development of benefit to all Emirati citizens.

Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Federal Demographic Council, were present.

The Cabinet session approved passing a number of sovereign resolutions and tasking all relevant bodies with their implementation according to a strategy presented by Shaikh Saif.

The cabinet approved a set of clear objectives on the percentage of Emiratis compared to total population within the next 20 years using a number of policies, coordinated economic and social initiatives according to expected economic and demographic growth scenarios during the next 20 years. All demographic policies taken within that timeframe will aim to achieve these objectives.

The Cabinet instructed all relevant bodies to draw up economic plans and following up on the UAE's workforce by approving a balanced growth pattern that is characterised by economic diversity, relying on a skilled workforce and modern technology during its productive period to attain a national knowledge based economy that provides opportunities and meets the development needs of Emiratis in accordance with the leadership's directives which place citizens as the core for national development.

Productivity

In this regard, the Cabinet approved setting up the Productivity Improvement Fund to stimulate the private sector into improving productivity by relying on technical and technological advancements, and providing a skilled and trained workforce for the private sector. The fund will be an affiliate of the Federal Demographic Council, and its jurisdictions will be approved by the council's chairman.

The Cabinet also instructed relevant bodies to work towards finding suitable alternatives in providing skilled workers for the UAE labour market by setting up labour training centres abroad in the exporting countries to evaluate and train workers before recruiting them. The employer will not handle any additional costs. This system will be adopted to replace the previously unregulated employment system.

Unskilled workers

As for decreasing the number of unskilled workers in the construction sector, which is considered the sector that utilises the highest number of unskilled workers, the Cabinet instructed relevant bodies to lay down a general construction index containing a number of technical criteria that ensure developing productivity in this sector, as well as decreasing the number of unskilled workers in accordance with laws that assist contracting companies in using advanced technology means in this sector.

The Cabinet also instructed relevant labour market bodies to set a minimum limit for qualifications required for some jobs, starting with the construction sector. These qualifications will be approved by the Chairman of the Federal Demographic Council (FDC) in a move that aims to allow the labour market to rely on a skilled workforce and modern technology.

The Cabinet also tasked the FDC to place a limit on the number of employees in some professions that can be compensated for by modern and advanced technologies. The limit will be set on an annual basis, and will be altered when needed.

The Cabinet instructed all bodies concerned to abide by these resolutions, and mandated the FDC to implement the resolutions in coordination with all bodies concerned.

Banned workers must leave UAE:Ministry of Labour

Pvt sector staff must exit even if they hold valid residence visa; Dh50,000 fine for firms hiring banned workers.Private sector workers who get a one-year ban by their employers must leave the country even if their residence visa has not expired, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Clarifying rules governing expatriate workers who are not exempted from the job ban, the ministry said those who stay in the UAE after they get the ban are considered violators of the immigration law.

“Those workers who get a ban and stay in the UAE are violating immigration laws as this means they are staying without a job,” said Humaid bin Dimas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary.

“Expatriate workers who come to the UAE enter on a work visa, which allows them to get residence…any violation by the worker of the job contract means he will be banned from work and this will deprive him from residence even if it still valid.”

Quoted by the semi-official daily 'Al Ittihad', Suwaidi said companies which employ a banned worker would be fined Dh50,000.

During the ministry’s weekly “open-day” on Thursday, Suwaidi said he had rejected a request by a company to hire a banned expatriate labourer, adding that worker is now offending immigration laws and must leave the UAE.

UAE Central Bank issued regulations to streamline High service fees charged by banks

High service fees charged by banks and excessive lending practices are affected as part of a host of retail banking rules issued yesterday by the Central Bank.

The new rules cover personal and car loans, with limits capping the amount banks can lend to customers at 20 times their salary. They also set the period of loan repayment at 48 months.In addition, the rules restrict service fees lenders can impose for personal accounts, cheques and debit cards.

Some of the new fees for bank transactions are as follows:

For opening new account – none

If balance is less than the minimum “monthly” - Dh25

Non-arrival of salary - none

Closure of account (if closed within one year of opening) - Dh100

Lack of sufficient credit in the account - Dh25

Issuing certificate of account balance - Dh50

Issuing clearance certificate - Dh50

Non-moving accounts - no charges

Teller transactions at branch (6 transactions monthly free) - Dh10 for each additional transactions

For cash withdrawal or deposit - none

Postpone the payment of the loan – Dh100 for each time

Loan restructuring - Dh250

Bounced cheques - Dh100

Periodic statement of account - Dh25 outside period agreed on

Previously there was a Dh250,000 (US$68,066) ceiling on personal loans but few other limits on service fees. As a result, banks were able to extend huge loans to consumers.

"We have compared fees in the region and put them slightly above regional fees, but not as high as banks wanted," said Suwaidi.

Under the rules, banks will be limited to charging a maximum of Dh25 for replacing lost or stolen ATM cards.

Closing an account within a year of opening will cost customers no more than Dh100. The cost of issuing a chequebook will be capped at Dh30.

Fees for loans will also be regulated. Processing fees for personal loans will be capped at 1 per cent of the loan amount.

Penalties for early payment of a loan will also be curbed. Banks will not be allowed to charge more than 1 per cent of the remaining loan balance if a customer settles a loan early.Those not complying with the rules will face fines