ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (Xinhua) — The United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansouri, said yesterday the UAE’s economy has not been affected by falling oil prices, state news agency WAM reported.

“The UAE economy is strong and (is)based on policy set by the government, where dependence on oil decreases year after year,” Al-Mansouri said in a statement issued on the sidelines of the third session of the meeting of the Federal National Council (the UAE parliament).

He noted that the country is going ahead with its projects of infrastructure and is unlikely to be affected by the ongoing decline in oil prices.

Oil contributes 29 per cent to the UAE’s domestic economic output. Due to the 60 per cent drop in oil prices between mid-2015 and end of 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected a 2.3 per cent fiscal deficit for the UAE in 2015, the first since 2009.

However, Al-Mansouri stressed that the UAE will continue its strategy of economic diversification and will work to strengthen other sectors, especially industry and services, in order to offset any future declines in oil prices.

The IMF expected the UAE to have economic growth of 3.0 per cent in 2015 and 3.1 per cent in 2016.

The minister stressed that the UAE government is moving forward in implementing various projects in many vital areas such as health, social development, education, public safety and economic affairs, environmental protection, culture and infrastructure in line with the national agenda of the UAE government’s “Vision 2021” plans.

He explained that the new budget of 2016 reflects the level of the limited impact of the drop in world oil prices on the overall federal government directions and its plans for the future.

He added that the new budget also confirms the data of the IMF that the UAE is one of the countries least affected by the drop in oil prices, as the non-oil sectors contribute nearly 69 per cent of GDP.