ABU DHABI - The value of grants provided by the UAE in the first half of 2019 rose to AED10.5 billion ($2.9bln), an increase of 56.7 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

The total value of registered grants provided by the country in 2018 amounted to AED13.3 billion, a growth of 14.7 percent compared to 2017, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance.

These grants include current or capital transfers from the federal government to government authorities, international organisations and foreign governments, with the exception of transfers between the federal government and local governments.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked the UAE as the world's largest donor of official development aid, relative to its national income, in 2017.

According to the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, the UAE is the world's largest donor of official development aid, with grants accounting for 5.2 percent of its total government expenditure, which includes federal and local expenditures for each emirate amounting to AED200.5 billion from January to the end of June.

Figures issued by the UAE Central Bank based on the ministry’s statistics show that the value of grants provided by the UAE in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to some AED8.62 billion, compared to AED4.08 billion in the same quarter of 2018.

During the second quarter of 2019, this figure amounted to AED1.87 billion, compared to AED2.6 billion in the corresponding period last year.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.