The United Arab Emirates, watching as Arab unrest spreads to nearby Gulf countries, will invest $1.6 billion to improve infrastructure in less developed regions of the country, state media said on Wednesday. The decision to expand water and electricity networks at a cost of 5.7 billion dirhams came after President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan last month ordered a tour to the less prosperous areas of the world's third largest oil exporter to assess their living conditions.
"Electricity supply is to be provided to buildings and shops belonging to citizens in the northern emirates, the president ordered," the state news agency WAM said. Revolts against oppressive leaders and economic hardships have been sweeping through the Arab world over the past two months, ousting the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia. They now challenge regimes in Libya as well as nearby Bahrain and Oman. The UAE, the second largest Arab economy, has escaped the unrest so far. Its relatively small local population enjoys one of the world's highest economic outputs per capita, at over $47,000. The UAE plans to spend 41 billion dirhams ($11.16 billion) in its 2011 deficit budget. Abu Dhabi, which accounts for most of the UAE's oil output and fiscal spending, has not released a budget for this year.
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